Zht  D.  H.  Hill 
iCtbrarg 

SB235 

Nartli  CHaraliita  *tatp 
HniDfrailii 


This  book  is  due  on  the  date  indicated 
below  and  is  subject  to  an  overdue  fine 
as  posted  at  the  Circulation  Desk. 


mi'LJ^'^. 


In  compliance  with  Jt.  Ees.  No.  4,  S.—  5,000  copies  ordered  printed. 


rsv 
%* 


EXPERIMENTS 


AMBER    CANE 


ENSILAGE  OF  FODDERS, 


EXPERIMENTAL   FARM, 


MADISON,  WIS.,  i8Si. 


MADISON,  WIS.: 
DAVID   ATWOOD,   STATK  PBINTBB. 

1883. 


In.compliance  with  Jt.  Res.  No.  4,  S.—  5,000  copies  ordered  printed. 


EXPERIMENTS 


AMBER    CANE 


ENSILAGE  OF  FODDERS, 


'ji<^,in..     EXPERIMENTAL  FARM, 


MADISON,  WIS.,  1881. 


MADISON,  WIS.: 

DAVID  ATWOOD,   STATB   PEINTBB. 

1888. 


REPORT. 


To  His  Excellency,  J.  M.  Kusk,  Qovernor: 

In  conformity  to  chapter  211  of  the  general  laws  of  1881,  I 
herewith  present  a  report  of  the  experiments  in  amber  cane  and 
ensilage  of  fodders,  conducted  upon  the  university  experimental 
farm  during  the  past  season. 

Most  fortunately,  Mr.  Magnus  Swenson  was  secured  as  chemist 
in  these  experiments,  and  too  much  credit  cannot  be  given  him 
for  his  untiring  zeal  in  the  difficult  task  to  which  he  was  assigned. 
Such  an  experiment  as  securing  sugar  from  amber  cane  in  any- 
thing like  a  practical  way  is  a  most  difficult  undertaking.  Every 
step  in  the  process  is  along  an  unknown  road,  and  the  many  fail- 
ures in  past  years  show  that  scores  of  persons  who  thought  they 
were  certain  of  success,  only  attained  defeat. 

Fortunately  Mr.  Swenson  understands  machinery  as  well  as 
chemistry,  and  was  enabled  to  design  and  superintend  the  con- 
struction of  the  machinery  used.  By  this  means  a  great  saving 
was  effected  in  the  cost  of  machinery  needed.  Had  it  been  other- 
wise, the  funds  would  not  have  been  sufficient  for  the  work. 

I  present  Mr.  Swenson's  report  as  handed  to  me,  believing  that 
in  it,  those  interested  in  amber  cane  will  find  information  that 
cannot  but  prove  of  great  value  to  them.  The  fact  that  good 
marketable  sugar  can  be  obtained  from  amber  cane  at  the  rate  of 
1,000  pounds  to  the  acre,  by  methods  even  more  practicable  when 
used  on  a  large  scale  than  in  the  present  case,  is  a  cause  for  grati- 
fication, I  think. 

It  is  proposed  to  distribute  samples  of  syrup  and  sugar  obtained 
iu  the  experiments,  in  such  a  way  that  they  can  be  seen  at  all  the 
agricultural  gatheriflgs  held  this  winter,  throughout  the  state. 


Having  experimented  but  a  single  season,  it  is  needless  to  say 
that  much  remains  to  be  done  yet,  and  many  problems  are  still 
awaiting  solution. 

In  addition  to  the  experiments,  I  have  tried  to  learn  the  ^con- 
dition of  the  industry  throughout  the  state  and  have  taken  steps 
to  familiarize  our  farmers  with  what  we  are  trying  to  do. 

In  April  last  a  twelve-page  circular  relative  to  amber  cane  was 
prepared  and  3,000  copies  distributed. 

This  fall  1,500  copies  of  a  circular  letter,  making  inquiries  re- 
garding the  cane  crop,  were  prepared  and  sent  to  all  whom  I 
thought  could  aid  us.  In  answer  to  these  circulars  I  have  replies 
from  180  manufacturers  of  amber  cane  syrup,  who  report  having 
made  about  350,000  gallons  of  syrup  this  jear.  A  list  of  these 
manufacturers,  together  with  amount  of  syrup  made  by  each,  is 
herewith  given.  Other  valuable  information  from  these  reports 
is  given  in  its  proper  place. 

In  regard  to  the  second  experiment,  the  ensilage  of  fodders, 
permit  me  to  say  that  a  silo  was  built  and  filled  last  summer,  and 
experiments  are  now  in  progress  to  determine  the  value  of  the  en- 
silage. So  far  the  indications  are  very  favorable,  but  it  is  too 
soon  to  make  any  definite  statements.  As  complete  a  report  as 
possible  is  herewith  presented.  It  is  planned  that  Mr.  Swenson 
investigate  the  subject,  from  the  chemical  side,  this  winter,  and 
upon  this  point  much  remains  yet  to  be  known. 

As  required  by  the  act  above  named,  I  have  made  a  detailed 
statement  of  the  moneys  expended  up  to  the  present.     It  will  be 
seen  that  we  have  not  yet  expended  the  sum  granted. 
Most  respectfully  submitted, 

W.  A.  HENRY, 
Prof.  Agriculture,    University  of  Wisconsin. 

Experimental  Farm,  University  of  Wisconsin,  Madison, 
Wis.,  December  31,  1881. 


EXPERIMENTS  WITH  SORGHUM  CANES. 
By  Magnus  Swenson. 
The  chief  object  of  the  experiments  conducted  during  the  past 
season  has  been  to  demonstrate  the  practicability  of  making 
sugar  from  cane  grown  in  this  state.  For  this  reason  the  work 
has  been  carried  on  in  a  thoroughly  practical  manner.  My  re- 
sults are  not  based  on  theory ;  they  do  not  show  what  might  be- 
obtained,  but  what  has  actually  been  done.  The  amount  of 
sugar  obtained  is  not  deduced  from  the  amount  present  in  the 
cane  or  syrup,  but  represents  what  has  actually  been  crystallized 
and  separated  as  sugar. 

MACHINERY.  # 

The  apparatus  used  consisted  of  one  horizontal  mill,  made  by 
the  Madison  Manufacturing  Company  ;  one  ten  horse-power  steam 
boiler ;  one  defecator  of  galvanized  sheet  iron,  3  feet  high,  2.5 
feet  in  diameter,  and  heated  by  a  steam  coil,  made  of  1-inch  gas 
pipe  ;  two  galvanized  iron  evaporating  pans,  the  larger  6  feet 
long,  3  feet  wide,  1  foot  deep ;  the  smaller  4  feet  long,  2  feet  wide, 
8  inches  deep,  both  heated  by  steam  coils ;  one  globular  vacuum 
pan  30  inches  in  diameter  ;  one  wet  air  pump  for  exhausting  the 
vacuum  pan  ;  one  centrifugal  machine  for  separating  the  sugar 
from  the  syrup,  1^  feet  in  diameter,  and  4  inches  deep ;  one  small 
steam  pump  for  feeding  the  boiler,  and  running  the  vacuum  pan 
and  centrifugal  machine. 

CANE   SUGAR   AND   GLUCOSE. 

Before  passing  on  to  the  actual  experiments,  a  few  pages  will 
be  devoted  to  the  general  properties  of  cane  sugar,  and  the  sub- 
stances occurring  with  it  in  the  cane  juice.  The  average  cane 
contains  about  85  per  cent,  of  juice  and  15  per  cent,  of  dry 
bagasse.  The  juice  from  the  average  cane  obtained  on  the  farm 
consisted  of  9.5  per  cent,  cane  sugar,  3.2  per  cent,  glucose,  2.3 
per  cent,  organic  acid  and  vegetable  matter,  and  8.5  per  cent, 
water.  Cane  sugar  is  a  compound  substance  composed  of  12  parts 
carbon,  22  parts  hydrogen,  11   parts  oxygen;  or  since  1  part 


oxygen  and  2  parts  hydrogen  form  water,  we  may  consider  cane 
sugar  to  be  made  up  of  12  parts  carbon  and  11  parts  water. 

Glucose,  or  grape  sugar  as  it  is  also  called,  is  composed  of  12 
parts  carbon,  2J:  parts  of  hydrogen,  12  parts  of  oxygen,  or  12 
parts  carbon  and  12  parts  water.  The  only  -difference  between 
the  two  is  1  part  of  water.  If  a  solution  of  cane  sugar  in  water 
is  heated  with  a  small  quantity  of  almost  any  acid,  it  takes  up 
one  more  part  of  water,  and  thus  becomes  changed  to  glucose. 
Almost  the  same  thing  takes  place  when  a  solution  of  cane  sugar 
is  acted  upon  by  a  ferment,  such  as  yeast,  or  even  by  simply 
heating  for  some  time,  large  quantities  of  the  crystallizable  cane 
sugar  are  changed.  The  one  important  thing  in  the  boiling  down 
of  cane  juice  is  to  guard  against  this  change.  As  seen  before, 
the  destruction  of  cane  sugar  may  be  induced  in  three  different 
ways  :  1st  By  the  presence  of  an  acid.  2d.  By  the  presence  of 
a  ferment.  8d.  By  high  and  prolonged  heat.  We  will  discuss 
them  in  order. 

PRESENCE   OF   AN   ACID. 

All  cane  juice  contains  a  considerable  proportion  of  free  or- 
ganic acids.  If,  therefore,  the  juice  be  boiled  down  without  first 
neutralizing  these  acids,  a  large  part  of  the  cane  sugar  will  be 
changed  into  glucose.  The  amount  of  cane  sugar  destroyed  may 
be  seen  from  the  following  experiment:  Six  hundred  pounds 
juice,  coijtaining  9.96  per  cent,  cane  sugar  and  3.45  per  cent,  glu- 
cose, was  taken  directly  from  the  mill  and  boiled  down  to  syrup. 
The  syrup  was  found  to  contain  22.4  per  cent,  cane  sugar  and 
56.3  per  cent,  glucose.  If  no  inversion  had  taken  place,  the 
syrup  should  have  contained  58.3  per  cent,  cane  sugar ;  so  we  see 
that  61.6  per  cent,  of  all  the  cane  sugar  originally  in  the  juice 
had  been  changed  into  glucose.  Glucose  has  only  one-third  the 
sweetening  power  of  cane  sugar,  and  its  presence  prevents,  to  a 
large  extent,  the  crystallization  of  cane  sugar.  The  light  colored, 
putty-like  deposit  in  amber  syrup,  which  is  often  mistaken  for 
cane  sugar,  is  glucose. 

USE   OF   LIME. 

If  lime  is  added  to  the  juice  it  will  combine  with  and  neutral- 
iy^  the  acid,  and  this  union  of  the  lime  and  acid  forms  a  new 


substance,  which  becomes,  to  a  large  extent,  insoluble,  and  is  re- 
moved with  the  scum,  what  remains  in  the  solution  having  no 
effect  whatever  on  the  cane  sugar.  But  here  we  meet  with 
another  difficulty.  If  more  lime  than  is  necessary  to  neutralize 
the  acid  has  been  added,  although  the  excess  has  no  effect  what- 
ever on  the  cane  sugar,  it  will  at  once  begin  to  decompose  the 
glucose,  changing  it  into  a  series  of  very  dark  and  bitter  products, 
which  will  impart  a  dark  color,  and  a  bitter,  burnt  taste  to  the 
-syrup.  Fortunately  we  are  in  the  possession  of  a  very  simple 
test  which  tells  when  lime  enough  has  been  added.  If  a  piece  of 
blue  litmus  paper  is  dipped  into  water  containing  a  small  quantity 
of  acid,  it  at  once  turns  red ;  and  if  a  piece  of  red  litmus  paper 
is  dipped  into  water  made  slightly  alkaline  by  the  addition  of  a 
little  lime  water,  it  at  once  turns  blue.  If,  now,  to  a  portion  of 
the  acidified  water  we  add  gradually  some  lime  water,  we  will 
soon  arrive  at  a  point  when  the  solution  will  have  no  effect  on 
the  color  of  either  red  or  blue  litmus ;  in  other  words,  it  is 
neither  alkaline  nor  acid,  but  neutral.  This  will  be  treated  of 
again  under  the  head  of  defecation. 

FERMENTATION". 

The  next  thing  which  tends  to  destroy  the  cane  sugar  is  fer- 
mentation. This  process  begins  almost  immediately  after  the 
juice  leaves  the  mill,  and  when  the  weather  is  warm  large  quan- 
tities of  sugar  are  lost  in  this  way.  Fermentation  is  at  once 
arrested  by  heating  the  juice  to  near  the  boiling  point.  Cane 
juice  should  therefore  never  be  allowed  to  remain  standing  any 
length  of  time,  but  should  be  defecated  as  soon  as  possible  after 
coming  from  the  mill. 

HIGH   TEMPERATURE. 

High  and  prolonged  heat  is  very  destructive  to  crystallizable 
cane  sugar.  At  first  the  temperature  will  not  vary  much  from 
that  of  boiling  water,  or  212°  F.,  but  as  it  becomes  more  and 
more  concentrated  the  boiling  point  gradually  rises,  until,  when  the 
syrup  is  thick  enough  for  sugar  making,  the  boiling  point  is  from 
232°  to  234°.  The  destruction  of  sugar  takes  place  long  before 
this  point  is  reached.  To  'get  the  best  results  the  syrup  should 
not  be  boiled  in  an  open  pan  after  it  reaches  a  density  of  20"  B., 


hut  should  then  be  transferred  to  the  vacuum  pan.  Daring  the 
first  part  of  the  boiling  in  this  pan  the  temperature  should  not 
exceed  170°  F.,  and  when  the  syrup  becomes  denser  a  more  com- 
plete vacuum  should  be  maintained  so  as  to  boil  it  about  140°  F.; 
in  fact,  the  lower  the  temperature  the  better. 

The  varieties  of  cane  raised  on  the  farm  during  the  past  season 
were  confined  to  the  Early  Amber,  Early  Orange  and  Honduras. 
Of  these  the  Early  Amber  is  unquestionably  the  best  for  sugar 
making,  and  our  experiments  were  confined  largely  to  this  variety. 
The  total  amount  of  juice  in  this  cane  is  about  85  per  cent,  of 
the  total  weight  of  the  stalks,  and  the  juice  contained  9.20  per 
cent,  cane  sugar  and  3.4  per  cent,  glucose.  This  content  of  sugar 
represents  the  average  of  not  less  than  200  pounds  of  stalks 
stripped  and  topped,  the  greater  part  of  which  were  lodged. 
Moreover,  the  land  on  which  this  cane  was  grown  was  quite  low, 
and  the  soil  a  cold,  clay  loam,  not  well  adapted  for  cane  growing. 
Taking  these  facts  in  connection  with  the  bad  season,  it  must  be 
looked  upon  as  below  the  average  yield. 

DEVELOPMENT. 

The  development  of  the  Early  Amber  cane  raised  on  this  farm 
may  to  some  extent  be  seen  from  the  following  analyses,  which 
have  been  made  by  me  during  the  summer  and  fall : 


August  10 

August  20 

September  6  . . . 
September  14.. 
September  17  . . 
September  20  . . 
September  22 . . 
September  29  ' . 
September  29  1. 
September  29  ^ . 
October  3 


3  Cane  sugar. 
(  Glucose.... 
\  Cane  sugar. 
'I  Glucose.... 
j  Cane  sugar. 
i  Glucose.... 
]  Cane  sugar. 
l  GlucoseT... 
\  Cane  sugar. 
1  Glucose.... 
j  Cane  sugar. 
l  Glucose.... 
j  Cane  sugar, 
j  Glucose  ... 
]  Cane  sugar. 

j  Glucose 

j  Cane  sugar. 

(  Glucose 

j  Cane  sugar. 
"^  Glucose 

Cane  sugar. 

Glucose. . . 


8.00 
4.50 
8.20 
5.10 
9.22 
4.20 
9.96 
3.45 
9.86 
3.32 

10.02 
3.23 

11.05 
2.60 
8.59 
3.50 
8.60 
3.50 
8.61 
3.44 

12  67 
2.43 


>  This  cane  was  lodged  by  etorm. 


From  these  we  see  that  the  cane  sugar  gradually  and  rapidly 
increased,  while  the  glucose  slowly  decreased,  from  the  time  of 
flowering  to  the  maturity  of  the  seed.  During  the  latter  part  of 
September,  most  of  the  cane  was  lodged  by  a  very  violent  wind 
and  rain  storm.  The  juice  from  the  stalks  that  were  lodged  was 
charged  with  a  red  coloring  matter,  the  inside  of  the  entire  stalk 
being  in  many  cases  of  a  bright  red  color.  Several  o£  the  stalks 
contained  but  a  small  portion  of  red  coloring  matter,  but  instead 
had  a  peculiar  yellow  and  watery  appearance,  and  quite  a  disa- 
greeable taste.  The  juices  from  these  contained  on  an  average 
only  8  per  cent,  sugar,  and  4.8  percent,  glucose. 

EFFECT   OF   LEAVING-   CANE    CUT   IN   THE    FIELD. 

A  number  of  stalks  still  in  good  condition,  the  juice  of  which 
contained  9.50  cane  sugar  and  8.25  glucose,  were  cut  and  left  in 
the  field  ten  days,  during  almost  constant  rain.  At  the  end  of  the 
ten  days  the  juice  contained  5.98  cane  sugar  and  6.15  glucose. 
Some  Early  Orange  cane  was  also  cut  September  20,  when  the 
juice  contained  10.50  cane  sugar  and  4.95  glucose,  and  was  left  in 
the  field  till  November  2,  when  the  juice  contained  13.80  glucose, 
while  not  a  trace  of  cane  sugar  was  present.  These  experiments 
show  conclusively  that  if  cane  is  cut  orginjured  and  left  exposed 
to  rain,  the  destruction  of  cane  sugar  goes  on  very  rapidly,  being 
in  time  entirely  changed  into  glucose.  The  rapidity  of  the 
change  depends,  of  course,  in  great  degree  on  the  weather. 


10 


EFFECT   OF   LEAVING    CANE   CUT,    UNDER   SHELTER. 

In'order  to  ascertain  the  effect  of  leaving  cane  under  cover, 
two  tons  of  Early  Amber  cane  were  cut,  the  juice  containing  10.02 
per  cent,  of  cane  sugar  and  3.23  per  cent,  of  glucose.  One-half 
was  topped  and  stripped  and  both  lots  were  placed  on  the  floor  of 
the  barn.  The  change  taking  place  may  be  seen  from  the  follow- 
ing table: 


September  20 

The  cane  freshly  cut 

October  4. 
After  two  weeks: 

(Stripped) 

(Unstripped) 

October  19. 
After  four  weeks: 

(Stripped) • 

(Unstripped) 

November  2. 
After  6  weeks : 

(Stripped) 

December  20. 
After  13  weeks: 

(Stripped)...   


3.23 


6.21 
6.00 


3.41 
3.74 


3.74 


6.80 


To  judge  by  the  table  the  cane  changes  very  slowly,  but  in 
reality  the  lo^s  of  sugar  is  quite  rapid.  If  no  loss  of  sugar  took 
place,  the  juice  would  of  course  become  richer  in  sugar,  on  ac- 
count of  the  evaporation  of  part  of  the  water.  In  raality  this  is 
not  the  case.  The  cane  sugar  becomes  gradually  changed  to  glu- 
cose, which  in  turn  is  destroyed  by  fermentation.  Iq  this  way 
the  juice  may  become  even  richer  in  sugar,  but  the  :^uantity  of 
juice  is  greatly  diminished.  The  juice  becomes  also  very  acid.  The 
effect  produced  by  shocking  the  cane  in  the  field  was  tried,  with 
very  unsatisfactory  results,  the  cine  sugar  being  destroyed  very 
rapidly. 


H 


EFFECT   OF   LEAVING    CANE    STRIPPED    IN   THE    FIELD. 

One  part  of  a  patch  of  Minnesota  Early  Amber  cane  was 
stripped  of  leaves  and  left  standing  in  the  field  from  September 
15  to  September  22.  It  was  then  cut,  and  the  jaice,  together  with 
some  that  had  not  been  stripped,  was  analyzed,  with  the  following 
result : 


Cane  stripped  for  one  week, 
Same  cane  not  stripped 


3.25 

2.78 


The  diminution  of  sugar  is  undoubtedly  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  latent  leaf  buds  found  under  each  leaf  begin  to  develop  into 
new  leaves.  These  new  leaves  are  formed  partly  at  the  expense 
of  the  sugar  in  the  cane. 

DEFECATION. 

The  juice  after  it  leaves  the  mill  has  a  more  or  less  green  color, 
due  to  the  presence  of  large  quantities  of  chlorophyl  and  other 
vegetable  substances,  which  must  be  removed.  This  process  is 
known  as  defecation.  The  defecator,  or  the  vessel  in  which  this 
operation  is  conducted,  may  be  of  wood.  Copper  is  perhaps  the 
best  material,  but  is  much  more  expensive.  The  vessel  should 
be  furnished  with  a  steam  cod,  with  sufficient  capacity  to  heat  the 
juice  to  the  boiling  point  in  a  short  time.  As  soon  as  the  juice 
is  expressed  it  should  be  removed  to  the  defecator,  where  it  should 
be  heated  at  once  to  about  ITS'"  F.,  or  just  about  hot  enough  to 
enable  a  man  to  hold  his  hand  in  the  juice  without  being  scalded. 
Milk  of  lime,  freed  from  all  coarse  particles  by  straining,  should 
then  be  added  until  a  slip  of  red  litmus  paper  becomes  changed 
to  a  faint  purple  when  dipped  into  the  juice.  The  lime  should  be 
added  in  small  portions,  the  jaice  being  vigorously  stirred  with  a 
paddle  after  each  addition.  When  the  right  quantity  has  been 
added,  the  juice  must  be  heated  as  quickly  as  possible.  A  thick 
green  scum  will  soon  come  to  the  surface.     When  the  boiling 


12 


point  is  reached, —  which  is  ahowQ  by  the  swelling  and  breaking- 
up  of  the  scum, —  the  heat  should  be  stopped  and  the  juice  left 
quiet  for  about  five  minutes.  The  scum  will  then  be  quite  hard^ 
and  may  be  easily  removed  from  the  surface  of  the  clear  liquid. 
Much  will  depend  on  a  good  defecation.  If  the  defecation  has- 
been  properly  conducted,  the  liquid  will  be  clear,  free  from  par- 
ticles, and  of  a  pale  yellow  color.  If  the  S3ura  is  of  a  light  color 
and  thin,  while  the  liquid  below  is  opaque  and  has  a  greenish 
color,  it  shows  that  too  little  lime  has  been  added  ;  while  if  the 
juice  is  very  dark,  too  much  lime  has  been  used.  Much  nicety  of 
judgment  is  required  to  make  a  good  defecation,  which  can  only 
be  obtained  by  experience. 

USE   OF   SULPHUROUS   ACID. 

The  clear  juice  from  the  defecator  is  now  tolerably  pure,  most 
of  the  impurities  having  been  eliminated.  It  contains,  however, 
considerable  lime,  which  if  allowed  t3  remain  will  give  us  a  dark 
syrup,  and  if  present  in  sufficient  quantities  will  impart  a  more  or 
less  bitter  taste  to  the  syrup.  To  avoid  this  we  must  neutralize 
the  lime,  just  as  before  we  neutralized  the  acid.  For  this  purpose 
sulphurous  acid  is  much  used.  This  acid  may  be  added  to  the 
juice  in  the  defecator  after  removing  the  scum,  or  it  may  be  added 
to  the  juice  in  the  evaporating  pan.  A  sufficient  quantity  should 
be  added  to  give  to  the  juice  a  distinct  acid  reaction,  or  until  a 
slip  of  blue  litmus  paper,  dipped  into  the  juice,  is  reddened.  To 
accomplish  the  same  result,  many  preparations  have  been  sold  to 
the  farmers  and  other  syrup  manufacturers  by  agents  and  peddlers. 
I  would  here  advise  every  one  to  leave  all  such  preparations  alone. 
Most  of  them  are  either  harmful  or  good  for  nothing,  while  others 
are  but  modifications  of  the  methods  which  I  have  des3ribed  and 
for  which  the  buyer  pays  an  exorbitant  price.  As  long  as  I 
remain  at  the  university  inquiries  as  to  any  method  will  be  an- 
swered. Before  closing  this  report  we  will  de33ribe  methods  by 
which  sulphurous  acid  may  be  made  at  syrup  works. 
BOILING  TO   SYRUP. 

The  juice  should  be  boiled  down  as  rapidly  as  possible,  the 
scum  which  comes  to  the  surface  being  skimmed  off.     If  con- 


13 


ducted  entirely  in  an  open  train,  it  should  be  concentrated  till  it 
boils  at  about  23i°  F.,  whicti  corresponds  to  about  45°  B.  If  a 
vacuum  pan  is  used,  the  syrup  should  be  transferred  to  it  when 
it  has  a  density  of  about  20°  B.  It  should  then  be  concentrated 
to  about  44°  B  ,  at  as  low  a  temperature  and  as  quickly  as  pos- 
sible. If  the  syrup  is  made  too  thick,  the  crystals  of  sugar  will 
be  small  and  difficult  to  separate ;  while  if  to  5  thin  the  crystalli- 
zation will  tj,ke  place  very  slowly.  After  the  syrup  has  been 
boiled  down  to  the  proper  density,  it  should  be  placed  in  a  room 
where  the  temperature  may  bs  maintained  at  about  90°  F.  to 
crystallize.  The  crystallization  usually  begins  in  a  few  hours, 
and  in  five  or  six  days  the  sugar  may  be  separated.  The  syrup 
may  be  boiled  down  a  second  time,  and  a  second  crop  of  crystals 
equal  to  about  one-half  the  quantity  of  the  first  may  be  obtained 
in  a  couple  of  weeks.  A  good  yield  of  sugar  may  be  obtained  if 
the  following  rules  are  strictly  adhered  to : 

1.  Do  not  cut  the  cane  until  the  seed  begins  to  harden. 

2.  Do  not  allow  the  cane  to  stand  stripped  in  the  field. 

3.  Work  up  the  cane  as  soon  as  possible  after  being  cut. 

4.  Defecate  the  juice  as  soon  as  possible  after  leaving  the  mill. 

5.  For  defecation  use  milk  of  lime,  freed  from  coarse  particles 
by  straining ;  add  it  gradually  to  the  juice  with  vigorous  stirring, 
until  a  piece  of  red  litmus  paper  is  turned  to  a  pale  purple. 

6.  Heat  the  juice  quickly  to  the  boiling  point,  as  shown  by  the 
swelling  and  breaking  of  the  scum. 

7.  Remove  the  scum  after  allowing  the  juic3  to  remain  quiet 
for  five  minutes. 

8.  Draw  off  the  clear  juice,  through  an  aperture  near  the 
bottom  of  the  defacator,  into  the  evaporating  pan. 

9.  Add  sulphurous  acid  to  the  clear  juice  until  a  piece  of  blue 
litmus  paper  is  reddened.^ 

10.  Evaporate  down  until  it  reaches  a  density  of  45°  B.,  or  if 
boiled  in  an  open  pan,  to  a  boiling  temperature  of  234°  F. 

11.  Place  in  a  warm  room  to  crystallize,  and  in  about  a  week 
it  will  be  ready  to  separate. 

>  This  step  may  be  omitted  if  no  excess  of  lime  has  been  added  during  def- 
ecation. It  will  have  no  efiect  on  the  quantity  of  sugar  obtained,  but  will 
make  a  lighter  colored  molasses. 


14 


RESULTS. 

Below  will  be  found  a  table  containing  the  summary  of  the  re- 
sults obtained  from  two  plots.  Plot  A  was  planted  with  seed  ob- 
tained from  Mr.  Sath  Kinney,  of  Morristown,  Minnesota.  Plot 
B  was  planted  with  seed  from  Mr.  Charles  Eastis,  of  Fort  Atkin- 
son, Wisconsin.  Plot  A  was  very  much  exposed  and  a  great  deal 
of  the  cane  was  lodged,  while  Plot  B  was  more  sheltered  and  the 
cane  was  in  better  condition. 


< 

'^      2 

m 

«      2 

o 

o  «  « 

o 

o^; 

C 

^r2  . 

p, 

^-2  . 

o 

o^^<- 

o 

o^^CQ 

'C 

^SS^ 

SJ  C3  S  & 

^ 

^ 

(^ 

^ 

Arpa  nf  nlntQ  in  norpq 

-,% 

Total  weight  of  cane 

4,669'^ 

30,348 

4,710 

23,550 

Total  weight  of  j  aice  in  cane 

3,875 

25,187 

3,909 

19,545 

Weight  of  juice  exp'essed 

2,680 

17,420 

2,732 

13,660 

Weight  of  juice  left  in  bagasse 

1,195 

7,767 

1,177 

5,885 

Per  cent,  of  cane  sugar  in  juice 

9.24 



10.53 

Per  cent,  of  glucose  in  juice 

Total  weight  of  cane  sugar  in  cane 

3.53 

2.68 

358 

2,327 

415 

2,075 

Weight  of  cane  sugar  in  expressed  j  uice. 

248 

1,612 

290 

1,450 

Weight  of  cane  sugar  in  bagasse  ...... 

110 

715 

125 

625 

Weight  of  syrup  obtained 

333 

2,158 

408 

2,040 

Weight  of  cane  sugar  separated 

142 

923 

1991^ 

IVoli 

"Wpiofht  nf  mnlfl<j9P<; 

190 

1,235 

2081^ 

1,0423^ 

Rii<5hpl<»  nf  sppd              - 

27K 

32 

A  glance  at  the  table  will  show  at  once  the  wastefulness  of  the 
present  mode  of  extracting  the  juice.  Oat  of  85  per  cent,  in  the 
cane,  only  60  per  cent,  was  obtained,  or  nearly  80  per  cent,  of 
the  sugar  in  the  cane  was  left  in  the  bagasse.  This  loss  is  un- 
undoubtedly  smaller  than  that  sustained  in  the  majority  of  cases, 
as  60  per  cent,  of  juice  is  larger  than  the  average  per  cent  ob- 
tained by  the  small  mills  usually  employed.  The  absurd  theory 
that  if  too  much  juice  is  expressed,  it  will  cause  the  whole  to 
"sour,"  make  a  poor  syrup,  etc.,  is  entirely  false. 

THE   DIFFUSION   PROCESS. 

The  diffusion  process  for  extracting  the  sugar  from  both  beets 
and  cane  is  now  employed  in  nearly  all  of  the  principal  factories. 
The  cane  is  cut  into  thin  slices  by  rapidly  revolving  cutting  ma- 


15 

chines,  the  sugar  being  extracted  from  these  bj  the  use  of  water. 
If  the  pieces  of  cane  are  placed  in  a  vessel,  and  a  quantity  of 
water  equal  to  the  quantity  of  juice  in  them  be  added,  part  of  the 
sugar  will  at  once  pass  through  the  cell  walls  into  the  surround- 
ing water,  while  part  of  the  water  will  enter  the  cells.  This 
will  continue  until  the  liquids  inside  and  outside  of  the  cell  walls 
are  of  the  same  density.  If  this  water  be  drained  off,  it  will 
contain  half  the  sugar. ,  If,  now,  this  same  cane  be  treated  with 
equal  and  successive  portions  of  water,  each  portion,  when 
drained  off,  will  contain  one-half  of  the  sugar  contained  in  the 
cane  at  the  time  when  it  was  added.  In  other  words,  the  cane 
will  retain  after  each  draining,  one-half,  one-fourth,  one-eighth, 
one-sixteenth,  one-thirty-second,  etc.,  of  the  sugar  originally  in  the 
cane.  In  practice  this  process  is  carried  on  in  such  a  way  that 
the  water  is  used  over  again  on  successive  portions  of 
cane  until  it  becomes  nearly  as  rich  in  sugar  as  the  juice,  only 
about  20  per  cent,  of  water  being  added.'  An  apparatus  work- 
ing on  this  principle  has  been  invented  in  Europe,  in  whicb  slices 
of  cane  or  beets  are  made  to  pass  upward  through  a  cylinder,  by 
the  aid  of  a  mechanical  feeder,  while  water  passes  in  at  the  top 
of  the  cylinder,  and  in  passing  down  becomes  more  and  more 
charged  with  sugar,  until  it  issues  from  below,  carrying  with  it 
almost  the  whole  of  the  sugar  from  the  cane. 

In  this  way,  it  is  claimed  94  per  cent,  of  all  the  sugar  in  the 
cane  is  obtained,  or  2 1  per  cent,  more  than  that  obtained  by  an 
average  good  mill.  This  difference  would  constitute  an  immense 
profit  in  a  large  establishment.  The  juice  is,  moreover,  perfectly 
clear,  containing  but  small  quantities  of  chlorophyl  and  other 
vegetable  matter,  which  occur  so  abundantly  in  juice  expressed 
by  the  mill.  A  better  syrup  and  a  larger  yield  of  sugar  is  the 
result. 

CANE   FOR    SYRUP   MAKING. 

For  the  making  of  syrup  exclusively,  some  experiments  were 
made  with  the  Early  Amber,  Early  Orange  and  Honduras.  Three 
plots  were  planted,  one  with  each  variety,  in  close  proximity  to 
each  other.  They  received  the  same  amount  of  cultivation,  and 
the  comparative  results  are,  we  believe,  as  fair  as  they  can  possi- 


16 


blj  be  made.  The  plots  were  each  one-fifth  of  an  acre ;  and  for 
convenience  sake,  the  results  in  the  following  table  are  calculated 
to  one  acre : 


Weight  of  stripped  stalks 

Weight  of  juice  expressed 

Per  cent,  of  juice  expressed. . . . 

Degree  Beauine  of  juice 

Per  cent,  of  cane  sugar  in  juice 
Per  cent,  of  glucose  in  juice. . . 
Gallons  of  syrup  obtained 


13, 660 

58.80 
8.0 

10.63 

2.68 

180 


23,520   31,000  43, 


17,966|  24,433 


57.95' 
8.51 

10.501 

4.95 

239 


57.70 

7.0 

7.00 

4.20 


There  was  no  marked  difference  in  the  quality  of  these  differ- 
ent kinds  of  syrup,  and  it  would  certainly  repay  the  cane  growers 
to  try  the  Honduras  as  a  syrup  producing  cane.  One  great  obsta- 
cle, however,  is  that  the  seed  would  have  to  be  imported  from 
more  southern  localities  every  season,  as  the  seed  hardly  reaches 
beyond  the  milk  stage  before  frost  may  be  expected. 

METHODS   FOR   MAKING  SYRUP. 

Several  different  methods  for  making  syrup  were  used.  The 
lightest  colored  syrup  will  be  produced  when  the  juice  is  nearly 
boiled  down,  and  skimmed  without  defecation.  The  acids  which 
in  that  case  remain  free  in  the  syrup,  change  large  quantities  of 
the  cane  sugar  to  glucose,  and  impart  the  "  sorghum  taste  "  to  the 
syrup.  In  order  to  make  a  syrup  free  from  this  taste,  the  juice 
must  be  defecated.  The  defecation  should  be  conducted  in  the 
same  manner  as  that  described  under  sugar  making.  If  too  much 
lime  is  added,  a  dark  syrup  will  be  the  result.  If  the  lime  is 
added  very  carefully,  so  as  to  make  the  juice  very  nearly  neutral, 
an  excellent  syrup  will  be  produced.  The  following  rule  for 
defecating  juice  for  syrup  works  well :  Fill  the  defecator  three- 
fourths  full  with  fresh  juice;  heat  to  about  160°  F.,  and  add  milk 
of  lime  perfectly  freed  from  coarse  particles,  until  the  juice  becomes 
slightly  alkaline.  Fill  the  defecator  with  fresh  juice,  mix  well 
and  heat  to  boiling,  skim  and  boil  down  to  a  syrup.     The  defe- 


17 

■cation  may  also  be  carried  out  as  described  under  sugar  making, 
a  quantity  of  sulphurous  acid  being  added  to  the  defecated  juice 
until  it  becomes  slightly  acid.  If  properly  conducted,  this  pro- 
■cess  will  always  make  a  good  syrup.  It  is  probably  to  be  pre- 
ferred to  any  other,  as  it  is  very  easily  performed.  Not  much, 
care  is  requisite,  as  any  small  excess  of  sulphurous  acid  which  has 
been  added,  will  escape  with  the  steam  during  the  boiling  down 
of  the  juice..  Sulphate  oi  aluminum  may  be  used  instead  of  sul- 
phurous acid,  with  equally  good  results,  but  more  care  is  neces- 
sary, since  any  excess  that  is  added  will  remain  in  the  syrup 
The  flavor  of  the  syrup  will  depend  to  a  very  great  extent  on  the 
quantity  of  lime  used  for  defecation,  and  the  quantity  to  be 
added  must  be  ascertained  by  practice.  If  the  maker  finds  that 
the  syrup  still  retains  some  of  the  "  sorghum  taste,"  it  is  a  proof 
that  too  little  lime  has  been  used,  and  a  stronger  defecation  should 
be  made.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  syrup  is  very  dark,  too  much 
lime  has  been  added. 

COXSUMPTIOX   AND   PRODUCTION. 

According  to  the  late  commissioner  of  agriculture  a  total  of 
'2,000,000,000  pounds  of  sugar  was  consumed  in  the  United 
States  during  the  year  1879.  "  Of  this  amount  1,743,560,000,  or 
more  than  80  per  cent.,  besides  38,395,575  gallons  of  molasses, 
were  imported.  The  whole  valued  at  $114,516,745."  He  says 
further:  "To  bring  the  vast  amount  of  sugar  imported  into  this 
country  within  more  easy  comprehension,  we  have  only  to  im- 
agine five  vessels  of  nearly  500  tons  each  and  loaded  with  sugar, 
arriving  at  our  ports  each  day  in  the  year."  The  question,  there- 
fore, can  cane  sugar  be  profitably  manufactured  from  northern 
sugar  cane,  is  one  of  immense  importance  to  this  country.  That 
there  is  much  prejudice  to  be  overcome,  is  evident.  There  are 
men  to  whom  the  bare  idea  seems  ridiculous.  In  the  face  of 
thefe  difficulties,  however,  we  venture  to  state  that  if  skillfully 
conducted,  the  manufacture  of  sugar  from  this  cane  will  certainly 
pay.  Assuming  the  sugar  to  be  worth  8  cents  per  pound,  and  the 
molasses  80  cents  per  gallon,  we  have  the  value  of  the  produce 
per  acre  as  follows : 
b 


18 


Yield  at  the  rate  of  plot  A  : 

923  pounds  of  sugar  at  8  cents $73  84 

103  gallons  of  syrup  at  30  cents 80  90 

Total $104  74 

Yield  at  the  rate  of  plot  B  : 

9973.^  pounds  of  sugar  at  8  cents $79  80 

87  gallons  ot  syrup  at  30  cents 26  10 

Total $105  9a 


The  seed  has  a  composition  about  the  same  as  corn,  and  will 
undoubtedly  constitute  a  good  food  for  farm  animals.  The  utili- 
zation of  the  by-products  will  constitute  another  source  of  in- 
come. The  first  scums  being  very  rich  in  nitrogen  and  mineral 
salts,  will  make  an  excellent  fertilizer,  and  from  the  last  scums, 
being  rich  in  sugar,  a  good  vinegar  may  be  manufactured.  Tak- 
ing also  into  consideration  that  my  experiments  were  conducted 
on  a  small  and  consequently  a  wasteful  scale,  my  results  are  un- 
doubtedly too  low.  If  the  capital  is  sufficient  to  produce  both 
refined  sugar  and  syrup,  the  value  of  the  products  will  be  in- 
creased by  at  least  one-third. 

COST   OF   PRODUCTION. 

The  cost  of  production  is  of  course  the  main  consideration,  and 
although  I  cannot  as  yet  give  any  definite  figures,  I  am  confident 
that  after  paying  all  costs  a  good  profit  may  be  realized.  The 
best  plan  for  conducting  this  industry  will  be  to  have  large  central 
factories.  During  the  working  season  these  factories  can  work 
up  a  large  quantity  of  cane  grown  in  their  vicinity,  and  during 
the  remainder  of  the  year  the  crude  produce  from  smaller  estab- 
lishments may  be  worked  up  and  refined. 

SUCRATE    OF   LIME  PROCESS. 

The  sucrate  of  lime  process  now  in  full  operation  in  Europe 
seems  to  be  eminently  fitted  for  carrying  out  this  plan.  A  very 
brief  outline  of  the  process  will  perhaps  not  be  out  of  place 
here.  Sucrate  of  lime  is  a  solid,  containing  when  dry  about  70 
per  cent,  of  sugar,  and  having  the  appearance  of  sand.  It  is  in- 
soluble in  cold  water,  but  soluble  in  hot  water,  and  also  in  solu- 


19 


tions  of  sugar,  not  too  concentrated.  It  is  entirely  unfermentable, 
and  will  not  become  mouldy  or  undergo  decomposition,  if  kept 
for  an  indefinite  length  of  time.  It  is  therefore  an  excellent  ma- 
terial for  shipping  and  storing.  Sucrate  of  lime  may  be  manu- 
factured on  the  farm  with  a  comparatively  small  outlay.  The 
juice  is  defecated  as  usual,  and  boiled  down  to  from  30''-32''  B, 
The  syrup  is  then  cooled  and  transferred  to  the  sucration  vessel. 
This  vessel  is  usually  made  of  galvanized  sheet  iron.  In  the 
center  is  a  vertical  shaft,  carrying  paddles.  A  certain  quantity 
of  pure  and  finely  pulverized  lime  is  then  ndded,  which  becomes 
thoroughly  mixed  with  the  syrup  by  the  motion  of  the  paddles. 
The  lime  and  sugar  quickly  combine,  forming  the  sucrate  of  lime, 
which,  when  washed  with  cold  water  and  dried,  is  ready  for  ship- 
ment to  the  refinery,  where  the  sugar  is  separated  from  the  lime 
and  refined.  This  is,  very  briefly  told,  the  process  which  we 
believe  can  be  successfully  applied  to  the  manufacture  of  sugar 
from  the  sorghum  cane.  We  trust  that  by  another  year,  if  these 
experiments  are  allowed  to  CDntinue,  some  practical  results  in 
connection  with  this  and  the  diffusion  process  may  be  brought  out. 
It  would  have  been  very  desirable  to  have  made  some  experi- 
ments with  these  processes  during  the  past  season,  but  our  time 
was  entirely  taken  up  by  the  work  which  has  been  done.  More- 
over, the  limited  amount  of  means  at  hand  would  not  warrant  the 
construction  of  the  special  machinery  necessary  for  conducting 
these  processes. 

PRODUCTION   OF   SULPHUROUS   ACID. 

Considerable  quantities  of  sulphurous  acid  are  needed  in  mak- 
ing syrup,  and  much  expense  may  be  saved  by  making  it  at  the 
factory.  When  sulphur  is  burnt  in  the  air,  each  part  of  sulphur 
unites  with  two  parts  of  oxygen  from  the  atmosphere,  forming  a 
gas  called  sulphur  dioxide.     This  gas  is  readily  soluble  in  water. 

When  water  has  a  tempsrature  of  50"  F.  it  will  absorb  50  vol- 
umes, or  one  gallon  of  water  will  absorb  50  gallons  of  the  gas. 
As  the  temperature  of  the  water  rises,  it  becomes  less  capable  of 
absorbing  the  gas,  so  that  at  70°  F.  it  will  absorb  only  3i  volumes. 
The  solution  of  this  gas  in  water  constitutes  sulphurous  acid* 


20 


Hence  to  prepare  it,  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  cause  the  fumes  of 
iburning  sulphur  to  come  into  contact  with  water. 

The  easiest  way  for  persons  using  steam-power  to  make 
this  acid  is  to  draw  the  fumes  of  burning  sulphur  from  the 
furnace  b}^  a  common  gas  pump  and  force  them  through  a  pipe 
reaching  to  the  bottom  of  a  barrel  filled  with  water.  The 
bubbles  of  gas  escaping  through  the  lower  end  of  the  pipe  will  be 
absorbed  by  the  water  in  ascending.  It  is  best  to  bend  the  pipe 
so  that  its  lower  end  may  lie  along  the  bottom  of  the  barrel.  The 
open  end  should  be  closed,  and  the  part  lying  on  the  bottom 
should  be  pierced  with  small  holes  so  as  to  make  a  large  number 
of  small  bubbles,  instead  of  a  few  large  ones,  the  gas  being  ab- 
sorbed in  this  manner  more  rapidly.  In  this  way  a  barrel  of  sul- 
phurous acid  may  be  made  at  a  cost  of  from  75  cents  to  80  cents. 
Any  further  information  may  be  obtained  on  this  subject  by 
writing. 

Below  will  be  found  the  analysis  of  several  bundles  of  cane, 
which  I  received  from  diiferent  parts  of  the  state.  Many  bundles 
arrived  without  any  labels,  having  lost  them  during  transporta- 
tion. Such  samples  were  not  analyzed,  as  it  was  impossible  to 
tell  whence  they  had  been  sent.  If  parties  who  have  sent  cane 
are  not  represented  in  the  following  table,  it  is  because  I  have  re- 
ceived no  information  in  regard  to  the  cane  sent,  or  else  the  cane 
has  been  without  labels,  making  it  impossible  for  me  to  tell  where 
it  belonged. 


21 


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33 


It  is  hardly  possible  to  draw  any  definite  conclusions  from  the 
above  analyses,  as  many  samples  were  n3t  received  for  several 
weeks  after  being  cat.  It  will  be  seen,  however,  that  nearly  all 
those  samples  which  were  analyzed  within  but  a  few  days  after 
being  cut  contain  a  large  proportion  of  cane  sugar,  while,  those 
which  were  analyzed  after  a  longer  period  of  time  show  a  high 
content  of  glucose,  and  a  low  proportion  of  cane  sugar.  This 
corroborates  my  statement  in  the  first  part  of  this  report,  and 
shows  the  necessity  of  working  up  the  cane  directly  from  the 
field  in  order  to  get  the  best  results. 

It  will  also  be  seen  that  all  the  samples  conspicuous  for  their 
high  content  of  cane  sugar  are  raised  on  a  light  soil,  usually  sandy 
loam,  while  those  raised  on  heavy  clay  land  contain  large  propor- 
tions of  glucose.  It  therefore  appears  that  in  order  to  obtain  a 
maximum  content  of  cane  sugar,  the  cane  should  be  grown  on  a 
light  soil.  For  making  syrup  alone,  the  cane  raised  on  clayey 
land  will  do  about  as  well,  as  the  high  content  of  glucose  will 
not  materially  affect  the  quality  of  the  syrup. 


23 


VARIETIES  OF  CANE  GROWN  FOR  EXPERIMENTS. 
By  Prof.  W.  A.  Henry. 

Amber  cane  was  grown  from  seed  obtained  from  Charles  Eus- 
tis,  Fort  Atkinson,  Wisconsin,  and  Seth  Kiunej,  Morristown, 
Minnesota.  From  Mr.  Kinney  were  also  several  packages  of 
seed  of  Early  Amber  grown  under  different  conditions.  From 
J.  A.  Hedges,  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  Kansas  Orange,  Hedges'  Early 
Orange,  Early  Orange  and  Honduras.  Also  Early  Orange  from 
Illinois  Industrial  University,  Champaign,  Illinoi?,  through  Prof. 
M.  A.  Scoville. 

All  these  varieties  and  sub-varieties  showed  peculiarities 
worthy  of  attention,  but  it  is  useless  to  report  from  one  season 
only. 

The  experiments  this  year  all  centered  about  the  question  of 
how  much  sugar  and  syrup  could  be  obtained  from  the  cane,  and 
in  this  Mr.  Swenson's  attention  was  so  absorbed  that  the  relative 
merits  of  each  of  the  varieties  could  not  be  investigated. 

A  thick  or  thin  stand  of  cane  evidently  makes  a  great  differ- 
ence in  the  quality  of  the  juice,  and  a  fair  test  of  varieties  can 
only  be  made  when  each  has  been  planted  in  various  ways  as  to 
width  of  rows,  distance  apart  of  hills  and  number  of  stalks  in 
the  hill. 

There  is  no  doubt  but  that  varieties  vary  in  value,  and  it  is 
important  that  the  peculiarities  of  each  be  known,  yet  it  is  a 
more  difficult  task  to  find  this  out  than  with  most  farm  crops. 
If  the  experiments  are  continued  next  season,  this  will  be  one  of 
the  problems  to  work  upon. 

AMOUNT   OF   SYRUP    TRODUCED    PER   ACRE. 

As  might  be  expected,  the  reports  show  a  wide  variation  in  the 
amount  of  syrap  which  is  obtained  from  an  acre  of  ground.  Not 
only  does  the  difference  follow  from  variations  in  quantity  and 
quality  of  cane  produced,  but  also  from  varying  densities  to 
which  the  syrup  is  reduced.  Some  manufacturers  make  a  much 
thicker  syrup  than  others.     The  reported  yields  therefore  show 


24 


only  in  an  imperfect  way  what  can  be  obtained  ;  still  they  are  of 
value,  I  think,  to  those  looking  up  the  subject. 

S.  Hanson,  of  Whitewater,  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  experi- 
enced growers  in  the  state,  reports  18  gallons  from  ten  rods  of 
ground  and  200  gallons  per  acre  from  larger  pieces. 

Joseph  H.  Osborn,  Oshkosh,  reports  the  highest  yield,  226  gal- 
lons, with  an  average  of  150. 

N.  D.  Comstock,  Arcadia,  Trempealeau  county,  estimates  the 
average  at  125  gallons. 

Maxon  and  Almony,  Milton  Junction,  Eock  county,  estimate 
the  average  at  150  gallons. 

J.  H.  Rhodes,  Sextonville,  Richland  county,  raised  on  one  acre 
170  gallons. 

O.  S.  Powell,  of  River  Falls,  Pierce  county,  estimates  the  aver- 
age crop  at  100  gallons. 

H.  T.  "Webster,  Iveene,  Portage  county,  obtained  40  'gallons 
from  twenty -eight  rods  of  ground. 

J.  D.  Sherwood,  Dartford,  Green  Lake  county,  reports  one- 
third  of  an  acre  yielding  12,538  pounds  of  stalks,  from  which 
79.14  gallons  of  syrup  were  made. 

A.  J.  Decker,  Fond  du  Lac,  considers  125  gallons  the  average. 

Mr.  S.  Nason,  of  Nasonville,  Wood  county,  where  cane  was 
grown  this  season  for  the  first  time,  reports  800  gallons  from  four 
acres. 

Evan  Erickson,  Stevenstown,  La  Crosse  county,  obtained  1,050 
gallons  from  five  acres. 

The  average  yield  of  syrup  on  good  ground  in  a  favorable 
season  may  be  set  down  at  about  160  gallons.  With  such  culture 
as  is  usually  given  to  it  the  yield  will  be  about  100.  It  may  be 
set  down  as  a  fact  that  wherever  it  has  been  planted  in  the  state, 
it  has  succeeded  no  matter  how  poor  the  soil  was.  It  promises  to 
be  one  of  the  very  best  crops  for  our  sandy  lands,  for  though  the 
yield  per  acre  will  not  be  large,  the  syrup  will  be  of  fine  quality. 
Land  on  the  experimental  farm  which  produced  fifty  bushels  of 
corn  per  acre  this  year  gave  two  hundred  gallons  of  thick  syrup. 


25 


TONS  OF  CANE  PRODUCED  PER  ACRE. 

This  season  several  of  the  large  manufacturers  have  purchased 
cane  bj  the  ton,  the  price  paid  usually  being  $2.50  per  ton  for 
stripped  and  topped  cane  delivered  at  the  mill.  This  makes  it 
important  to  ascertain  the  number  of  tons  produced  par  acre. 

I  take  the  following  yields  from  the  same  source  as  before  : 

N.  D.  Comstock,  Arcadia,  Trempealeau  county,  grew  fifteen 
tons,  yielding  171  gallons,  on  one  acre. 

Geo.  Grant,  Janesville,  report?  one  instance  of  eleven  tons 
grown  on  an  acre,  producing  fourteen  gallons  of  syrup  p3r  ton, 
each  gallon  weighing  eleven  and  a  half  pounds.  A.  C.  Kent, 
Janesville,  puts  the  average  product  for  the  year  at  ten  tons  per 
acre.  'The  average  may  be  safely  stated  at  from  ten  to  twelve 
tons  per  acre,  according  to  the  soil  and  season,  I  think.  Should 
the  industry  grow  in  importance,  purchasing  cane  by  weight  from 
the  grower  will  become  a  very  common  practice,  and  if  we  may 
judge  from  the  difficulties  arising  between  beet  growers  and  sugar 
manufacturers  in  France,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  no  small  amount  of 
trouble  will  occur  with  us. 

To  ]>urchase  cane  simply  by  weight,  without  regard  to  its  char- 
acter, will  be  alike  ruinous  to  manufacturer  and  grower.  In  some 
way  the  quality  of  the  juice  must  be  considered.  For  syrup 
making,  a  densimeter,  as  the  Baume  scale,  will  do  fairly  well  in 
helping  determine  the  true  value  of  cane.  In  the  standard  ton  of 
cane  the  stalks  should  be  straight,  with  leaves  and  top  removed, 
all  small  canes  and  suckers  being  left  out.  The  juice  should  have 
a  certain  density,  as  shown  by  the  Baume  scale. 

The  price  for  such  cane  could  be  agreed  upon  by  growers  and 
manufacturers  before  planting  time.  At  the  same  time  the  price 
of  cane  which  falls  below  this  standard  or  rises  above  it,  can  also 
be  arranged. 

Those  who  are  contemplating  this  business  on  a  large  scale  can- 
not turn  their  attention  to  this  pirt  of  the  industrj'  any  too  soon, 
for  our  farmers  are  too  independent  of  any  one  crop  to  attempt 
raising  Amber  cane  for  syrup  boilers  who  are  so  careless  that  they 
will  not  pay  for  what  they  get  according  to  its  true  value.  Great 
care  must  be  exercised  to  make  the  business  a  profitable  one  for 


26 


careful  growers.  By  purchasing  according  to  a  standard,  the 
grower  who  plants  upon  sandy  land,  for  instance,  and  produces  a 
very  high  grade  cane,  may  find  the  small  number  of  tons  from  an 
acre  returning  a  goot^  profit,  while  a  stated  j)rice  per  ton,  without 
regard  to  quality,  would  drive  him  from  the  business. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  note  in  this  connection  that  in  France 
the  price  is  $i  for  a  ton  (2,200  pounds)  of  beets,  the  juice  of 
which  has  a  density  of  5.5  degrees  (1.055),  and  that  for  variation 
above  or  below  this  standard,  special  contracts  are  usuall}'  made, 
though  in  general  where  the  system  has  been  adopted,  80  cents  is 
added  to  this  price  for  each  additional  degree  above  the  standard, 
and  subtracted  for  each  degree  below, 

CANE    SEED   FOR   FEED. 

For  several  reasons  the  value  of  cane  seed  for  feed  has  received 
little  attention.  Its  importance  has  not  yet  impressed  itself  upon 
cane  growers.  As  will  be  seen  from  Mr.  Swenson's  report,  from 
one-fifth  of  an  acre  of  ground,  6f  bushels  of  seed,  weighing  53 
pounds  per  bushel,  were  obtained,  or  at  the  rate  of  32  bushels 
per  acre. 

The  average  yield  of  oats  in  the  vicinity  of  Madison  this  sea- 
son was  about  35  bushels. 

J.  M.  Edwards,  Oiiv  Hi]l,.Jei3:erson  county,  reports  230  bushels 
of  seed,  weighing  58  pounds  per  bushel,  from  9  acres. 

I  do  not  think  the  feeding  value  of  this  seed  can  fall  below 
that  of  oats,  and  possibly  it  is  nearly  equal  to  corn.  Experi- 
ments will  be  tried  upon  the  farm  this  winter  to  learn  its  value  by 
practical  tests. 

There  is  no  difiiculty  in  saving  the  seed,  as  the  heads  can  lie 
upon  the  ground  a  long  time  unless  there  is  an  excessive  amount 
of  rain.  The  heads  cm  be  drawn  and  spread  on  the  barn  floor, 
or  what  would  be  better,  arranged  on  racks  in  a  shed  like  broom 
corn.  Some  bind  the  heads  in  bundles  and  stand  them  on  end  in 
the  field  like  bundles  of  wheat,  to  dry. 

According  to  one  test  the  weight  of  the  green  leaves  as  stripped 
from  the  cane  is  nearly  one-fourth  as  much  as  the  weight  of  the 
stripped  cane.  From  this  I  estimate  that  an  acre  producing,  for 
instance,  twelve  tons  of  stripped  cane  will  yield  three  tons  of 


27 


green  leaves,  which  will  afford  somewhere  between  half  a  ton  and 
a  ton  of  dried  leaves  per  acre. 

All  who  have  fed  these  dried  leaves  speak  of  them  as  equal  to 
liav  in  value;  they  are  not  difficult  to  dry  or  care  for,  but  owing 
to  the  season  of  the  year  and  the  great  press  of  work  at  that  time, 
they  are  apt  to  be  neglected.  Toe  unusual  rainy  fall  made  it  im- 
possible to  save  the  leaves  from  our  cane  for  experimental  feed- 
ing, as  had  been  intended. 

THE    LESSONS   OF   THE   SEASON. 

As  a  summary  of  the  reports  sent  in  by  one  hundred  and  eighty 
manufacturers,  I  would  state  that  the  season,  upon  the  whole,  can- 
not be  called  a  favorable  one.  Probably  owing  to  the  intense  cold 
that  came  on  in  November,  1880,  the  vitality  of  cane  seed  was  so 
injured  that  when  planted  last  spring  it  failed  in  many  instances 
to  grow.  'Phis  'cut  down  the  acreage  very  considerably  in  many 
localities.  The  fall  frosts  were  long  delayed,  and  in  this  regard 
the  season  was  peculiarly  favorable.  The  almost  daily  rains  dur- 
ing the  whole  fall  made  stripping  very  disagreeable  and  the  roads 
almost  impassable,  so  that  the  cane  could  not  be  drawn  far,  and 
much  of  it  spoiled  in  the  fields.  Again,  heavy  autumn  winds 
laid  the  cane  flat  and  tangled  it,  making  the  expense  of  stripping 
and  cutting  fully  double  what  it  should  have  been. 

Mr.  Swenson's  analyses  show  that  the  cane  sugar  is  mostly 
changed  to  glucose  when  the  cane  is  blown  down,  though  the  loss 
is  not  so  manifest  when  syrup  alone  is  made.  Had  sugar  been 
the  object  with  our  manufacturers  this  season,  it  would  have  been 
a  very  unfavorable  one. 

This  year  has  seen  the  introduction  of  steam  into  quite  a  num- 
ber of  factories,  by  which  means  syrup  can  be  made  much  cheaper 
than  by  direct  heat.  With  such  facilities  defecation  is  easily 
practiced,  and  syrup  of  superior  quality  made.  I  consider  the 
success  attained  by  these  steam  boiling  works  as  the  most  marked 
event  of  the  season.  Previous  to  this  year  no  one  had  but  a  few 
hundred  dollars  invested  in  the  business.  There  seemed  to  be 
no  chance  for  capital  to  take  hold  of  it  as  long  as  direct  heat  was 
used,  but  with  the  introduction  of  steam  apparatus,  capital  can 
be  invested  with  profit  to  the  owner  and  advancement  to  the  busi- 


28 

ness.  With  so  many  large  manufacturers  in  the  field,  Amber 
syrup  must  go  into  the  market  in  considerable  quantities,  and 
this,  with  the  high  quality  of  the  goods,  will  soon  conamand  pub- 
li3  attention.  It  is  the  introduction  of  these  large  factories  that 
we  must  expect  and  encourage,  if  this  is  to  become  one  of  the 
great  industries  of  the  state. 

One  of  the  plainest  lessons  of  the  season  is  the  impDrtance  of 
growing  cane  close  to  where  it  is  worked  up.  A  wagon  load  of 
the  stripped  stalks  at  the  crusher  is  not  worth  over  five  dollars. 

It  at  once  becomes  evident  that  such  weighty  material  cannot 
be  drawn  long  distances  with  any  profit,  and  that  the  syrup  works 
must  be  located  near  the  field?  where  the  cane  is  grown.  Cane  to 
be  profitable  should  not  be  grown  over  two  miles  from  the  works, 
unless  the  roads  are  excellent,  when  possibly  three  may  be  set  as 
the  limit.  Those  who  are  locating  mills  should  aim  to  settle  at 
points  where  the  cane  fields  can  be  about  them  on  all  sides.  Fuel 
need  not  be  considered,  for  the  bagasse  is  sufficient  when  properly 
managed  to  supply  all  the  heat  needed.  The  transportation  of 
the  syrup  requires  that  the  works  be  near  a  railroad  station. 

Another  fact  of  the  utmost  importance  has  been  made  plain  this 
season,  that  is,  defecation  of  the  juice  by  some  method  is  essen- 
tial. The  prejudice  against  the  syrup  because  of  its  acid  or  "  sor- 
ghum taste  "  keeps  the  market  price  down  below  what  it  should 
be,  and  then  buyers  will  only  take  it  at  a  low  price  or  not  at  all. 
If  they  must  pay  syrup  prices,  they  prefer  New  Orleans. 

Even  the  syrup  shipped  is  not  sold  to  the  consumer  direct,  but 
is  first  mixed  with  glucose  to  remove  the  strong  taste,  or  rather  to 
flavor  the  glucose. 

The  only  way  to  overcome  this  prejudice  is  to  make  a  syrup 
with  the  sorghum  taste  left  out.  Toe  experiments  oq  the  farm 
and  by  others  show  this  to  be  possible,  an  i  that  the  methods  are, 
upon  the  whole,  very  simple.  I  am  aware  that  quite  a  prejudice 
exists  among  boilers  agaiast  any  clarification  of  the  juice.  Some 
even  argue  that  people  refuse  to  purchase  Amber  cane  syrup  not 
because  of  its  sorghum  taste,  but  because  it  is  a  home  product. 
They  forget  that  maple  syrup,  a  home  product,  brings  three  times 
the  price  of  the  New  Orleans. 

Our  boilers  here  exerted  every  effort  toward  making  a  light 


29 

colored  syrup,  and  because  lime  darkens  it  they  are  afraid  to  use 
lime.  If  every  boiler  would  use  lime  cautiously  next  season,  let- 
ting color  be  considered  after  flavor,  there  would  be  more  real 
advancement  in  the  industry  than  ten  years  of  present  methods 
of  attempted  improvement  will  bring.  At  present,  less  than  ten 
per  cent,  of  the  boilers  use  lime  or  practice  defecation  of  any  kind. 

CAN   THE   FARMER    MAKE    HIS    OWN   SUGAR? 

This  is  a  question  naturally  asked  by  many  who  have  not 
studied  the  problem  to  any  extent. 

Most  certainly  not,  if  profit  is  to  be  considered.  A  farmer 
might  have  a  mill  and  make  his  own  patent  process  flour,  but  it 
would  not  pay  him.  His  business  is  rather  to  grow  the  wheat, 
while  skilled  men  attend  to  the  milling. 

While  first  class  Amber  syrup  can  be  made  by  proper  means 
with  a  small  investment  and  a  fair  amount  of  skill,  sugar  making 
must  be  left  to  skilled  men  under  the  direction  of  a  chemist  or 
expert.  Such  experts  must  be  trained  to  work  with  northern 
cane,  and  not  brought  from  southern  localities  where  the  con- 
ditions are  very  different.  Such  persons  though  experts  at  home 
would  only  be  students,  for  a  time  at  least,  at  the  north.  In  order 
to  manufacture  sugar  there  must  be  quite  a  large  investment  of 
capital  in  machinery ;  to  manage  this  there  must  be  skilled  men, 
and  over  all  must  be  a  man  who  by  chemical  tests  reads  the  vary- 
ing conditions  of  the  juice  as  it  runs  from  the  crusher  from  day 
to  day,  and  whose  work  is  law  with  all  other  employees.  Until 
there  are  such  experts  capital  should  be  most  cautious.  Fine 
sugar  works  with  cosily  machinery  will  not  alone  bring  sugar,  as 
the  many  past  failures  show.  It  would  be  far  better  for  all  con- 
cerned to  wait  ten  years  before  another  step  is  taken  in  this  prom- 
ising industry  than  to  have  it  blighted  in  the  start  by  failures. 
With  capital  carefully  invested  in  proper  machinery,  the  works 
located  in  the  midst  of  cane  fields,  and  run  by  good  workmen  and 
a  skilled  chemist,  there  is  no  doubt  but  money  can  be  made  as 
rapidly  as  in  any  manufacturing  busines?.  When  success  comes, 
the  farmer  will  sell  his  cane  at  the  sugar  works  as  he  does  his 
wheat  at  the  mill,  but  he  will  not  be  a  sugar  boiler  and  farmer 
combined. 


30 


EXPERIMENT  WITH  FERTILIZERS. 

In  order  to  ascertain  the  value  of  fertilizers  in  the  production 
of  syrup,  an  experiment  was  planned  a  year  ago,  in  which  the  co- 
operation of  our  Wisconsin  farmers  was  solicited.'  Over  forty 
farmers  agreed  to  carry  out  a  simple  experiment  as  I  directed. 
The  following  are  the  directions  which  were  sent  to  each  in  April 
last: 

DIRECTIONS   FOR   THE    EXPERIMENT. 

Select  in  the  field  where  cane  is  to  be  planted  three  plots  of 
ground,  each  containing  not  less  than  ten  square  rods  and  lying 
side  by  side.  The  ground  should  be  as  uniform  as  possible  in  its 
composition  and  fertility.  Do  not  select  soil  where  one  end  of 
the  plot  is  sand  and  the  other  loam  or  clay.  No  matter  which  it 
is,  but  have  it  all  of  one  character.  Have  the  plots,  if  possible, 
long  and  narrow,  say  one  rod  by  ten,  or  two  by  twenty,  etc.  The 
plots  should  lie  side  by  side  and  should  not  be  separated  from  one 
another  or  the  rest  of  the  field.  One  plot,  No.  1,  plow  in  well- 
rotted  stable  manure  at  the  rate  of  sixteen  large  loads  per  acre — 
one  load  for  every  ten  rods.  Plot  No.  2,  which  is  to  be  the  mid- 
dle plot,  has  no  manure  of  any  kind  upon  it.  When  the  cane  on 
plot  No.  3  is  three  or  four  inches  high  apply  plaster  to  the  hills 
or  rows  to  the  amount  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  pounds  per  acre,, 
or  ten  pounds  for  every  ten  rods.  The  cane  is  to  be  planted  and 
cultivated  in  the  same  manner  as  the  rest  of  the  field.  If  possi- 
ble, weigh  the  cane  of  each  plot  separately  when  ready  for  the 
mill.  Boil  the  juice  to  a  syrup  weighing  eleven  and  a  half 
pounds  per  gallon,  and  determine  accurately  the  yield  of  each 
plot.     Save  a  sample  of  syrup  from  each  plot  for  comparison. 

Report  to  the  department  upon  the  following  points  : 

1.  Amount  of  ground  in  each  plot. 

2.  Character  of  soil  —  clay,  loam,  sand,  etc. 

3.  l£  soil  naturally  rich  or  poor? 

4.  Number  of  years  the  field  has  been  in  cultivation. 

5.  Crops  grown  on  field  previous  year. 

6.  Whether  or  not  the  field  was  manured  the  previous  year. 

7.  Method  of  planting  cane  —  in  drills  or  hills. 


31 


8.  Time  of  planting. 

9.  Time  of  ripening. 

10.  When  manufactured. 

11.  Yield  of  syrup  from  each  plot. 

12.  Character  of  syrup  from  each  plot,  as  to  color,  clearness  and  flavor. 

But  one  of  all  who  agreed  to  undertake  the  experiment  carried 
it  through  successfully.  Mr.  S.  B.  Chatfield,  of  Adams,  Wal- 
worth county,  makes  the  following  report  : 

Adams,  January  2,  1882. 
Mr.  W.  a.  Henry  : 

Dear  Sir—  I  have  been  s«  very  busy  that  I  have  neglected  to  send  samples 
until  to-day.  I  express  them  as  you  requested.  I  will  answer  those  ques- 
tions to  the  best  of  my  ability: 

1  rod  wide,  10  rods  long. 

Black  sandy  loam. 

Naturally  rich. 

Under  cultivation  33  years. 

Sugar  cane. 

Not  manured  the  previous  year. 

In  drills. 

Planted  19lh  of  May. 

Ripe  from  12th  to  15th  of  September. 

Manufactured  September  28. 

No.  1,  17  gallons;  No.  2,  10  gallons;  No.  3,  14  gallons. 

The  three  samples  must  speak  for  themselves. 

The  samples  were  indeed  interesting.  That  from  unmanured 
soil  was  light  colored,  and  sugar  crystals  in  considerable  numbers 
and  of  fair  size  formed  in  it.  The  syrup  from  the  manured  plot 
was  the  darkest.  Other  qualities,  marked  in  their  way,  I  am  very 
sorry  I  cannot  report  on,  as  Mr.  Chatfield's  samples  were  put  on 
exhibition  at  the  state  cane  growers'  convention,  and  two  of  the 
bottles  were  carried  off  by  some  visitor. 

It  is  most  unfortunate  that  more  had  not  been  as  persistent  as 
Mr.  Chatfield,  for  untold  good  would  flow  from  united  work  in 
this  way. 

If  there  are  any  of  our  farmers  who  are  willing  to  try  such  an 
experiment  again,  I  shall  be  pleased  to  have  their  names  and  will 
forward  directions  in  due  time. 

The  importance  of  united  work  will  appear  plain  to  all  who 
have  grown  cane  to  any  extent. 


No. 

1. 

No. 

2. 

No. 

3. 

No. 

4. 

No. 

5. 

No. 

6. 

No. 

7. 

No. 

8. 

No. 

9. 

No. 

10. 

No. 

11. 

No. 

12. 

32 


LIST  OF  SYRUP  MANUFACTURERS   IN   WISCONSIN. 


The  following  is  a  list  of  all  manufacturers  whose  names  I  have 
been  able  to  obtain,  together  with  address  and  amount  of  syrup 
made  by  each  during  the  fall  of  1881. 

For  convenience  of  reference,  they  are  arranged  alphabetically 
by  counties : 


Name. 


George  Cochran  

Edwin  Blood 

John  B.  Sweet 

C.  C.  Carr 

L.  K.  Goodall 

Charles  W.Peters., . 

Cyrus  Root 

L.  S.  Wright 

I.  B.  Hayden 

Samuel  A.  Clark 

W.J.  Lankford 

C.  R.  Rounds 

A.  H.  Anderson 

J.  H.  Greening 

Kenry  Linley 

W.  M.  Sprague 

B.  F.  Wil'iamson  ... 
R.  L.  Clason 

C.  J.  Davis 

Charles  Link 

Joseph  Philips  .... 

W.  H.  Clyde 

W.  H.  Doane 

H.  J.  Myers 

F.  M.  Steves 

W.  W.  Waterbury... 
George  W.  Jones  . . . 

J.W.Bailey 

A.  J.  Decker 

C.  J.  Gordon 

George  Jenkinson  . . 
M.  M.  Alexander  . . . 

C.  D.  Barnes 

Francis  A.  Markert  . 

Lewis  Glass 

C.  S.  Ruddock 

G.  W.  Sheldon 

J.  D.  Sherwood 

Aug.  Ziemer 

Peter  Crook 

J.  P.  Beard 

F.  W.  Board 

E.  G.  Dodge 

Riley  Moulton 


POSTOFFICE. 


Gilmanton 

Stockbridge  . . . 

Chilton 

Poynette 

Lodi 

Columbus 

Otsego 

Fall  River 

Freeman 

Prairie  du  Chien 

Ferryville 

Mt.  Sterlicg 

Black  Earth.... 

Mazoraanie 

Mazomanie 

Lake  View 

Madison 

Beaver  Dam 

Beaver  Dam 

Danville 

Randolf 

Rock  Falls 

Fall  City 

Elk  Mound...   . 

Louisville 

Augusta 

Fairchild 

Ripon 

Fond  du  Lac 

Oakfield 

Brandon  

Montfort 

Brodtville , 

Lancaster 

Wyalusing 

Berlin 

Markesan 

Dartford , 

Berlin 

Dodgeville 

Elroy 

Elroy , 

Mauston 

New  Lisbon 


County. 


Buffalo 

Calumet 

Cdlumet 

Columbia  .. . 
Columbia  .. . 
Columbia  . . . 
Columbia  ... 
Columbia  . .. 
Crawford. ... 

Crawford 

Crawford 

Crawford 

Dane 

Dane 

Dane 

Dane 

Dane 

Dodge  

Dodge 

Dodge  

Dodge    

Dunn 

Dunn . . 

Dunn 

Dunn 

Eau  Claire  .. 
Eau  Claire  . . 
Fond  du  Lac 
Fond  du  Lac 
Fond  du  Lac 
Fond  du  Lac 

Grant 

Grant 

Grant 

Grant 

Green  Lake. . 
Green  Lake.. 
Green  Lake. . 
Green  Lake.. 

Iowa 

Juneau 

Juneau 

Juneau 

Juneau 


1,350 
7,700 

900 
1,700 

320 

868 
1,000 
2,000 
1,000 
1,000 

800 
i,000 
1,200 
2,003 
1,200 

300 
1.350 
2.200 

853 
1,800 
1,400 
2,000 

800 
1,878 
4,100 
2,000 

800 
3,000 
10,000 
5,800 
2,500 

550 
1,530 

125 

105 
1,500 
3,700 
4,877 
1,830 

90O 

650 

800 
2,400 
1,500 


33 


Name. 


POSTOFFICE. 


County. 


D.  Travis 

A.  L.  White 

Win.  Goudre 

P.  W.  &  C.  S.  Cartwright, 

F.  E.  Chartier 

E.  Colwell 

J.  M.  Edwards 

John  Moore 

R.  B.  Pearsall 

L.  B.  Green 

Frank  C.  Lehman 

Williams  &  Colwell 

Williams  &  Dow 

W.  H.  Peardon 

William  Jauare 

Smith  Hoyt 

Geo.  B.Allen 

H.  C.  Davis 

B.  C.  Henry 

L.  W.  Thayer 

James  F.  Petrie 

Evan  Erickson 

Nels  Hanson 

N.  D.  Loomis 

T.  O.  Misher 

Hollister  Phillips 

Henry  Rhode 

H.  H.  Slye 

Frank  Pfalf    

Riley  T.Scott 

Vincent  Br uner 

Richard  Graham 

G.  A.  Scott 

T.Wells 

L.  Barina: 

Casper  Eberdt 

W.  G.  West , 

M.  Shidle 

Samuel  Thompson , 

W.  H.  Tilton , 

J.  McLean 

L.E.  Buck 

W.  M.  Burrows 

Silas  D.  Clark 

Nicholas  Piper 

Albert  Ttylor 

Reuben  Thompson 

H.  T.  Webster 

Alex.  G.  Coffin 

A.  H.  Cott 

D.  W.  P.  elps 

S.  L.  Plummer 

Hiram  B.  Stone 


Wonewoc 

Mauston , 

Milford 

Rome 

Rome 

Farmington  . . 

Oak  Hill; 

Rome 

Waterloo 

Hebron  . . .  4. . 

Watertown 

Farmington  . . 

Palmyra , 

Palmyra  . .    . . 

Palmyra 

Milford 

Milford  • 

Irving 

Pine  Hill 

Kenosha 

Kenosha 

Stevenstowu  . . 

Rockland 

West  Salem. . . 

Bangor 

Mindora  .  ... 
Barre  Mills. . . 

Mindora 

Hurr  Oak 

Yellowstone  .. , 
Blanchardville 

Jeddo  

Westfield 

Neshkora 

Oil  City 

Tomah 

Sparta 

Sparta 

Osceola  Mills. 
Osceola  Mills. 
St.  Croi.^  Falls 

Sberman 

Almond 

Plover  

Almond 

Blaine 

Amherst 

Keene 

Durand 

.1  eddo 

Durand 

Arkaasaw 

Durand 


Juneau  

Juneau 

Jefferson.. , 
Jefterson. . . 
Jefterson,. . 
Jefferson.. . 
Jefterson.. . 
Jefterson.. . 
Jefterson.. . 
Jefterson. . . 
Jefferson. , . 
Jefferson..  , 
Jefferson.. . 
Jefferson. . . 
Jefterson. . . 
Jefferson.. . 
Jefterson.. . 
Jackson  . . . 
Jackson  . . , 
Kenosha  . . 
Kenosha  .. 
La  Crosse. . 
La  Crosse. . 
La  Crosse. . 
La  Crosse.. 
La  Crosse. . 
La  Crosse. . 
La  Crosse. . 
La  Crosse. . 
La  Fayette 
La  Fayette 
Marquette  . 
Marquette  . 
Marqu-tte  . 
Monroe  . . . 
Monroe  . . . 
Monroe  . . . 
Monroe  . . . 

Polk 

Polk 

Polk 

Portage  . . . 
Portage  . . . 
Portage  . . . 
Portage  . . . 
Portage  . . . 
Portage  . . . 
Portage  . . . 

Pepin 

Pepin 

Pepin 

Pepin 

Pepin 


34 


Name. 


T.  J.  Atwaler 

O.  S.  Powell 

L.  L.  Kichanlson 

Conrad  We  horn 

Charles  N.  Soule 

Thos.  McFarland 

Nims  &  Voorliees 

A.  A.  t  owey 

John  J.  Dillon 

R  W.  Peters 

J.  H.  li  .des , 

N.  G.  6  rram , 

Thos.  S.  Palmer 

Buob  &  llissll 

Conrad  &  Dibble 

Georfff"  Grant 

A.  C.  Kent 

M.  M.  Tuilar 

W.  J.  Mclntyre 

Maxon  Si  A.1  ninny 

Bauernleind  &  Alletzan. 

M.  J.  Adims 

L.  T.  AUbe 

Isaac  W.  Carpeuler 

C.  H.  Dome 

G.  F.  Faller 

C.  Henneberg 

J.  T.  Huntiugtoa 

W.  .lelrv 

W.  H.  lioukel 

J.  VV.  Shouids 

C.  R.Thayer 

R.F.  Coe 

J.B.  Filbian... 

Foster  &  Nye 

F.  W.  HitchiDLS    .... 

J.  M.  Nash  ...". 

E.G.  Paitridge 

N.  D.  Comstock 

B.  Dissmore 

A.  F.  H.us  1 

A.  H   lingers 

D.  S.  Waisou 

H.  H.  Morgan 

L.  F.  Day 

W.  FrHzier 

E.B    Hvde 

M.  K  J  tileries 

C.  Bhx-inan      

S.  H.  Helraer 

S.  S.  Nasoii 

Henry  H..11 

A.G.  Lull 


POSTOFFICK, 


County. 


Prescntt   

River  Falls 

Clifion  Mills  .... 

Ellsworth 

Rochester 

Wateiford    

Burliuglon 

Port  Andrew  . .. . 

Basswood 

Basswood 

ISextonvil  e    

Basswood 

Eagle  Corners.  .. 

Janesville 

Evansvilie. ..    ... 

jHnesville 

Janesville 

Evansvilie 

Wiiitewater 

Milton  Junction  . 

Glenbeulah 

Baraboo 

North  Feedora. . 
White  Mound  . . . 
Birahoo. ....... 

Barn  boo 

La  Valle  .., 

Deltftn 

Barab'io 

B  •  ra  boo 

lieedsburg 

Baraboo 

Reeds burg 

Hammond 

New  Riclimond. . 
N.  Wis.  Junction 

Hudson 

Warren  

Arcadia 

Whitehall 

Arcadia 

Osseo 

Whitehall 

Red  Mound 

Itetreat 

Enterprise 

Retreat  

Hillsboro 

Red  Mound 

Harltord 

Nasonville 

Eureka 

Oshkosh  


Pierce.. . ,, 
Pierce. . . . . 

Pierce 

Pierce 

Rac  ne 

Racine 

Racine  . . . . 
Richland  . . 
Richland  . . 
Richland.. 
Richland  .. 
liichland  .. 
Richland  .. 

Rock 

Rock 

Rock 

Rock 

Rock 

Rock 

Rock 

Bheboygan 
^auk 


Sauk 

Sauk 

Sauk 

Sauk 

Sauk 

Sauk 

Sauk 

^»auk 

Sauk 

Sauk 

Sauk  .. 

St.  (  roix 

St.  Croix  . .. . 
St.  Croix  . . . . 

St  Cn  ix 

St.  Croix  . . . . 
T  empealeau 
Trempealeau 
Trempealeau 
Trempealeau 
Trempealeau 

Vernon 

Vernon.    . .. . 

Vernon 

Vernon 

Vernou 

Vernf)n 

Washington  . 

Wood 

WiTinebago. .. 
Winnebago. ., 


35 


Names. 

POSTOFPICE. 

County. 

=  1 

Whitemarsh  &  Edwards  . 

Joseph  H.  Osborn 

W   M   Davies 

Oshkosh 

Oshkosh      

Winnebago.... 
Winnebago.. .. 

Waushara 

Waushara 

Waushara 

Waushara 

Waushara 

Waushara 

Waushara 

Waukesha 

Waukesha 

Waukesha 

Walworth 

Walworth 

Walworth 

Walworth 

Walworth  .   ... 

Walworth 

Walworth  .... 
Walworth  .... 

Waupaca 

Waupaca 

Waupaca 

Waupaca 

Waupaca 

Waupaca! 

Waupaca..   .- 

Waupaca 

Waupaca 

Waupaca 

2,000 
3  500 

Wild  Rose 

1  150 

Charhs  0   Dill    ... 

Oasis .... 

Hamilton's  Mills 

Spring  Lake 

Saxville 

1,000 

D.  A.  0.  McGowan 

Wm.  Scobie 

5L6 
1,600 

H.  C.  Van  Airsdale 

i.roo 

W.  M.  Ware 

777 

Wilfred  Lane        ...   . 

Wild  Rose 

500 

M.  D  Morrison     

Eagle 

800 

Komeo  Sprague 

Edward  P.  Hinkley 

S.  B    Chatfield 

Eagle 

1  000 

Eagle 

750 

1,6015 

T.  M.  Cook 

Little  Prairie 

1,150 

Whitewater 

2,000 
100 

Chas  E    Horton 

Whitewater 

J  Patchin 

Heart  Prairie 

1  100 

Pliny  Potter     

Little  Prairie 

250 

T.  M.  Shoudy 

Ambrose  Warner 

400 

Whitewater 

2  300 

550 

John  Clark 

2,000 
900 

W.  E.  Clark 

Bear  Creek 

Waupaca     ........     . 

R  J    Folks          .     . 

2  300 

E  G  Furlong      

Rural    

2  000 

T.  S   Neyward      

Rural  ..    

Crystal  Lake 

1,800 

Sumner  Packard  

1  OCO 

Alvin  Pope 

Lind 

3  000 

J,  Rode 

4(10 

Milton  Stanley 

1,500 

36 


The  following  names  have  been  received  since  tabulating  the 
above : 


Names. 

POSTOFFICE.' 

County. 

II 

Silas  Hammond 

M.  P.  Hammond 

D.  JMcDouald 

Strong's  Prairie 

Strong's  Prairie 

Adams 

Adams 

Dane 

330 

90O 
800 

Cyrus  G.  Patton 

Gustav  Yiss 

Angusta .  . . . 

Eau  Claire 

Eau  Claire 

Grant 

1,300 
1,400 

John  R.  Roth 

Platteville 

Patch  Grove 

1,000 

Charles  E  Rowerman 

Grant 

718 

James  F  Rrown 

Mineral  Point 

Iowa     ... 

1  100 

J.  E.  Arnold 

R  Grant 

Melrose 

Necedah 

Jackson 

Juneau 

Jackson  

La  Crosse 

La  Crosse 

La  Crosse  ,  . . . . 

]Marquette 

Richland  

Richland  .... 

Richland  

Trempealeau  . . 
Trempealeau  .. 

Sauk 

Sauk 

Sauk 

Sauk 

Vernon 

Vernon 

Vernon 

Vernon 

Vernon 

Vernon. ...... 

800 
618M 
3  470 

L  P    Crandall 

North  Bend             .   . . 

Mindora 

Stevenstown 

2,700 

Otto  Amundson    ... 

1,000 
1.100 
1,100 

900 
1,500 

800 
2  300 

James  Sykes 

John  C.  O'Bleness 

A.J.  (/unningham 

Travers  &  Snyder 

Bennett  &  Mecum 

Ole  0  Lamb     .     ... 

Stevenstown 

Jeddo  

Woodstock 

Woodstock 

Richland  Center 

Glasgow        

Alex  Cauce 

Ettrick 

Reedsburg 

2  000 

R  F  Gale       

1,460 

Charles  Fuchs       

Sprin""  Green 

2,800 
500 

Jacob  Mann  ....     ,   ... 

Spring  Green 

Spring  Green  ......... 

Ole  Ivanteson 

500 

De  Soto 

2,939 
1,400 

Geor"-e  C  Clark 

W.  W  Minor 

2,  100 

Retreat 

1,800 

S  M.  Honaker 

2,000 

Warren  C   Bates 

750 

A.  H  Bates 

Retreat 

1,400 

Lester  N.  Porter 

Wauloma ., 

Waushara 

1,572 

37 


CORRESPONDENCE. 

From  among  a  large  number  of  letters  upon  the  subject,  I  se- 
lect the  following,  which  will,  I  am  certam,  be  read  with  interest : 

[From  A.  J.  Decker,  Esq.,  Fond  clu  Lac,  Wis.] 

Fond  du  Lac,  Wis.,  December  17, 1881. 
Prof.  W.  A.  Henry,  Agricultural  Department,  University  of  Wisconsin: 

Dear  Sir  —Another  season  has  passed,  and  another  harvest  has  been  gath- 
ered with  its  lessons  of  success  or  failure.  That  should  teach  us  in  luture 
years  how  to  attain  success  and  avert  the  chances  ot  failure. 

Though  the  past  season  has  been  the  poorest  in  many  years  for  growing 
Amber  cane,  and  its-manufacture  into  syrup  and  sugar,  yet  I  think  we  have 
advanced  very  materially. 

The  late  cold,  wet  spring  greatly  retarded  planting,  and  fully  one-third  of 
the  amount  planted  came  up  so  poorly  that  it  was  plowed  up  and  other  crops 
planted.  This  was  the  case  mostly  with  farmers  who  had  little  or  no  expe- 
rience in  raising  cane,  and  mistook  it  for  pigeon  grass,  or  thought  it  looked 
too  small  to  ever  pay  for  the  taking  care  of  it.  While  farmers  understanding 
it  better,  cultivated  it  carefully  and  were  paid  with  good  crops.  The  fall  has 
been  very  bad  for  the  manufacture  of  syrup.  The  grinding  season  com- 
menced about  September  15,  and  by  [the  25th  it  commenced  raining  and 
rained  almost  every  day  for  six  weeks,  until  the  country  was  flooded  and 
roads  impassable;  some  farmers  feeding  their  cane  to  their  cattle,  a  few  of 
them  storing  it  in  their  barns,  hoping  for  better  weather  to  haul  it  to  the  mill ; 
and  after  I  had  finished  the  cane  at  the  mill  and  'had  been  shut  down  nearly 
a  month,  I  started  up  to  accommodate  those  farmers  and  to  determine  the 
amount  and  quality  of  syrup  that  could  be  made  from  cane  kept  so  long  after 
being  cut,  which  was  seven  weeks.  The  result  was  a  fine,  Ight  syrup,  and 
about  three-fourths  of  a  full  crop.  Out  of  this  lot  was  one-half  acre  from 
which  I  made  95^^  gallons  of  syrup,  for  which  the  owner  was  offered  sixty 
cents  per  gallon  at  the  mill,  which  speaks  well  for  its  quality. 

From  the  unfavorable  season  we  have  learned  many  valuable  lessons  which 
a  favorable  season  would  not  have  shown,  and  solving  such  difficult  prob- 
lems is  taking  a  firm  step  in  advance  towards  the  time  when  this  industry, 
with  the  aid  of  your  department,  is  to  be  an  established  source  of  business 
and  wealth  to  the  people  of  the  state  of  Wisconsin. 

One  great  drawback  has  been  the  lack  of  proper  knowledge  in  the  manip- 
ulation  of  the  juice  to  obtain  the  best  results,  and  people  starting  factories 
have  been  so  anxious  to  get  such  information  taat  they  have  been  the  easy 
prey  of  traveling  sharks,  claiming  to  be  experts  in  the  business,  referring  to 
some  successful  factory  to  which  their  name  may  be  attached  in  some  capac- 
ity, claiming  by  their  skill  and  superior  articles  to  have  accomplished  such 
results,  and  offering  to  sell  a  mill  and  outfit,  for  which  they  ask  a  fancy  price 


38 


and  will  then  give  full  instructions  in  their  secret  processes  for  one  cent 
per  gallon  on  each  gallon  of  syrup  made  by  them  during  the  season.  The 
work  of  your  department  will  put  a  stop  to  this  swindling  business,  and  I 
hope  the  legislature  will  appropriate  such  amounts  as  may  be  requisite  to 
fully  develop  the  cane  resources,  and  place  Wisconsin  in  a  position  to  raige 
her  own  sugar  and  syrup,  for  which  she  has  paid  over  $8,000,000  per  annum. 
My  factory  has  an  easy  capacity  of  400  gallons  syrup  in  twenty-four  hours. 
I  use  steam  for  defecating  and  evaporating,  and  the  Plantation  Mill  made  by 
the  Madison  Manufacturing  Company,  and  no  other  state  can  furnish  a  better 
one.  I  would  be  glad  to  have  you  visit  my  factory  in  grinding  season  if 
possible.      Hoping  for  your  complete  success   in  developing    the    sugar 

resources  of  Wisconsin, 

I  am  yours  truly, . 


A.  J.  DECKER 


To  Prof.  W.  A.  Henry,  Agr.  Dep't,  University  Wis. 


[From  J.  T.  Huntington,  Esq.,  Delton,  Wis.] 

Prof.  W.A.Henry: 

Dear  Sir  —  In  reply  to  your  request  for  something  from  me  on  the  cane 
business,  I  submit  the  following: 

The  last  two  seasons  have  undoubtedly  been  unfavorable  for  the  best  re- 
sults from  Amber  cane  — the  season  of  '81  particularly  as  to  yitld  in  this  vi- 
cinity. Notwithstanding  that  the  season  was  very  wet  the  yield  of  juice  was 
generally  small,  but  mostly  of  fine  (juality,  my  experience  being  that  the  juice 
of  tbis  year  worked  satisfactorily —  much  easier  than  that  of  last.  The  syrup 
from  my  works  this  year  was,  for  a  custom  mill  where  all  sorts  of  cane  is 
handled,  very  uniform  in  quality  and  color.  We  have,  in  this  vicinity,  all 
kinds  of  soil,  and  so  far  as  I  am  able  as  yet  to  judge,  the  very  best  results  are 
obtained  from  cane  groivn  on  soil  somewhat  sandy,  and  if  possible  I  would 
wish  it  be  on  a  clover  sod.  The  finest  flavored  syr,  p  and  ((uickest  to  granu- 
late of  any  made  at  my  place  are  those  from  cane  grown  on  a  clover  sod. 
Growers  of  cane,  as  a  general  thing,  I  think,  do  not  do  as  they  should  to  ob- 
tain the  best  results.  Cane  is  too  apt  to  be  left  to  be  the  last  thing  planted 
and  cultivated,  und  I  have  often  had  men  tell  me  that  they  had  only  culti- 
vated it  once,  and  some  not  at  all.    Such  cane  cannot  be  satisfactory. 

In  my  opinion,  cane  should  be  planted  just  as  early  as  the  climate  will 
admit,  covering  just  as  light  as  possible,  and  cultivating  as  soon  as  the  rows 
can  be  seen;  and  continue  the  cultivation  until  it  is  waist  high,  and  then 
keeping  the  weeds  out  in  August  with  a  hoe. 

It  should  be  cut  when  a  majority  of  the  seed  is  ripe  enough  to  grow,  and 
if  it  cannot  be  worked  at  once,  should  be  so  placed  that  it  can  have  plenty  of 
air,  and  be  covered  from  the  rays  of  the  sun  or  storms  ;  so  placed,  it  will 
keep  well  for  some  time.     I  have  worked  some  that  had  been  cut  four  weeks, 


39 


and  it  was  not  at  all  soured  —  had,  perhaps,  lost  a  small  portion  of  the  juice. 
A  matter  of  importance  to  manufacturers  is  a  better  market,  or  better 
prices.  The  name  generally  applied  is  sufficient  alone  to  make  maay  refuse 
to  purchase.  At  a  time  when  ordinary  New  Orleans  molasses  is  worth  50  ta 
55  cents  in  Chicago,  at  wholesale,  40  cents  is  considered  sufficient  to  pay  for 
"sorghum,"  when  the  fact  is  that  tie  "  scrghum  "  (when  good  as  it  ought  to 
be)  is  the  best  goods  to  be  had  in  the  molasses  line;  and  it  is  also  a  fact  that 
large  quantities  of  it  (some  not  very  good)  are  purchased  in  Chicago  at  very 
low  prices,  put  into  large  tanks,  and  a  little  very  rank  New  Orleans  molasses 
added  to  give  a  New  Orleans  flavor,  and  then  it  is  rebarreled  and  sold  in  the 
country  as  genuine  New  Orleans  molasses.  Probably  those  who  will  not 
buy  "  sorghum  "  direct  of  the  Jmaker,  often  get  it  this  way.  There  ought  to 
be  Ji  manufacturers'  association  to  work  in  their  interests. 

Yours  truly, 

J.  T.  HUNTINGTON, 
Delton,  Wis. 


[A  letter  from  Mr.  William  P.  Phillips,  of  Lake  Mills,  shows  that  all  do 
not  look  upon  this  question  in  the  same  ligbt.  Mr.  Phillips  writes  as  fol- 
lows:] 

Lake  Mills,  Wis  ,  December  12,  18S1. 
Prof.  W.  A..  Henry,  University  of  Wisconsin,  Madison,  Wis.: 

Dear  Sir  —  Your  circular  of  Nov.  10th  Ult.,  relative  to  the  Amber  cane  in- 
■dustry  of  Wisconsin,  received.  I  am  not  in  any  manner  interested  in  that  branch 
of  industry  and  know  of  no  thrifty  or  practical  farmer  in  this  vicinity  who  la. 
Its  production  here  is  generally  confined  to  a  few  of  the  smaller  farms  —  usu- 
ally those  occupied  by  the  poorer  and  most  thriftless  class  of  foreign  bora 
immigrants  —  who  are  willing  to  use  an  inferior  syrup  of  thoir  own  pro- 
duction,  under  the  delusion  that  their  time  and  labor  in  producing  it  is  worth 
nothing.  Only  a  few  square  rods  are  raised  on  each  farm;  and  I  apprehend 
if  the  labor  in  its  production  and  manufacture  was  countec'  at  its  value  in 
other  established  practical  lines  of  agricultural  business,  it  would  be  found 
to  cost  many  times  the  market  value  of  much  better  syrup.  In  the  present 
stage  of  development  of  the  crystallizing  process,  I  am  unable  to  appreciate 
the  extraordinary  eft'orts  of  the  national  and  state  departments  of  agricul- 
ture to  foster  its  growth,  or  to  obtain  statistics  in  regard  to  it.  It  occurs  to 
me  that  there  are  several  things  connected  with  the  agricultural  interests  of 
this  country  in  which  the  national  and  state  departments  —  with  their  aided 
facilities  —  might  do  great  service  to  the  country. 

We  have  established,  partially  developed,  practical  and  profitable  in- 
dustries that  need  the  aid  and  benefit  of  the  practical  experiments  of  the  de- 
partments and  the  protection  of  the  government. 

Take  as  an  instance  the  leading  agricultural  industry  of  our  state  — the 
dairy  industry.    Base,  unwholesome,  disgusting  adulterations  of  dairy  pro* 


4.0 


ducts  are  allowed  to  be  manufactured  and  sold;  our  reputation  and  markets 
lost,  or  at  least  damaged  at  home  and  abroad.  Millions  are  thereby  lost  to 
the  farmers  that  a  few  unscrupulous  persons,  worse  than  counterfeiters,  may 
defraud  consumers  out  of  a  few  thousands.  Yet  there  has  been  no  effectual 
law  devised  or  passed ;  no  effort  worthy  of  the  name  been  made  to  prevent  or 
check  the  evil.  The  farmers,  an  unorganized  class,  are  not  capable  of  help- 
ing themselves.  The  state  department  of  agriculture,  as  the  only  organized 
representative  and  guardian  of  the  agricultural  interests  of  the  state,  should 
repeatedly  urge  and  secure  the  legislation  required  in  this  matter.  The  law  on 
this  subject  passed  last  winter  (chapter  40)  accomplished  nothing,  as  it  was 
evidently  intended  it  should  accomplish  nothing. 

Again,  the  science  of  agriculture  is  yet  comparatively  undeveloped.  True, 
it  has  made  great  advances  in  this  country  during  the  last  half  century, 
mainly  by  the  knowledge  gained  by  the  experiments  of  private  individuals. 
Like  all  sciences,  money  generally  precedes  experimental  demonstration. 
To  the  private  citizen  experimental  demonstration  is  often  expensive  or  im- 
practicable for  the  lack  of  facilities.  The  state  department  of  agriculture 
should  have  some  system  of  direct  communication  with  the  practical  agricul- 
turists of  the  state,  by  which  inquiries  might  be  solicited  and  answered,  and 
the  necessary  experiments  made  at  the  expense  of  the  state.  An  agricultural 
newspaper  connected  with  the  department  might  answer  the  purpose  and  be 
at  least  partially  self-sustaining. 

For  instance,  at  the  present  time  our  stock  and  dairy  interests  require  an 
immediate  answer  to  the  question  of  the  economy  and  practicability  of  the 
preservation  and  use  of  ensilage  as  food  for  stock.  We  want  no  floating 
rumors  picked  here  and  there,  but  an  authoritative  answer  based  on  the 
demonstration  of  reliable  experiment. 

Tjus  indefinitely  questions  daily  present  themselves  to  the  practical  far- 
mer, and  if  you  will  inaugurate  a  system  by  which  they  may  be  satisfactorily 
answered  by  the  department  of  agriculture,  you  will  greatly  benefit  the  agri" 
cultural  industries  of  the  state. 

I  am  very  respectfully, 

WM.  P.  PHILLIPS. 


[From  A.  J.  Russell,  President  Wisconsin  State  Cane  Growers'  Association.] 

Janesville,  Wis.,  December  19, 1881. 
Prof.  W.  A.  Henry  : 

Dear  Sir  —  In  reply  to  your  favor  of  the  8th,  I  would  say  that  we  have  not 
purchased  cane  by  the  ton  heretofore,  as  there  was  no  reliable  data  to  en- 
able  the  manufacturer  to  determine  the  value  of  the  different  qualities  of 
cane  that  was  produced  on  difl'erent  soils,  and  delivered  at  the  mill  in  various 
conditions. 

An  imperfect  knowledge,  and  no  well  developed  system  of  determining 
the  true  value  of  the  canes,  as  delivered  promiscuously  from  a  large  variety 


41 


of  soils,  has  resulted  in  very  serious  losses  to  several  large  establishments 
who  had  adopted  the  method  of  purchasing  cane  delivered  at  the  mill  at  a 
stipulated,  and  generally  a  uniform  price,  per  ton,  or  by  the  acre,  irrespective 
of  the  purity  of  the  juice  contained  in  such  canes. 

.  There  seems  to  be  but  one  practical  business  method  for  a  manufacturer  to 
adopt  for  his  own  protection,  and  a  greater  satisfaction  to  the  growers,  and 
that  is  to  purchase  the  cane  by  the  ton.  The  manufdCturer  then  has  control 
of  all  the  syrup  and  sugar,  and  is  not  brought  into  competition  in  the  local 
or  geiieral  market,  with  his  own  patrons  who  grow  the  cane,  many  of  whom 
have  more  than  sufficient  to  supply  their  own  and  neighbors'  wants,  and 
desire  to  dispose  of  the  balance  they  have  on  hand  as  soon  as  possible;  and 
not  being  (as  a  general  rule)  familiar  with  the  ruling  prices  of  same  class  of 
gooJs  in  the  wholesale  and  retail  market,  are  imposed  upon  by  dealers  wha 
are  perfectly  aware  of  the  fact  that  toe  grower  has  not  a  sufficient  amount 
to  ship  to  jobbing  points,  and  rather  than  hold  it,  will  sell  it  at  a  price  to 
the  local  dealer  generally  below  the  actual  market  vy.lue,  and  that  makes  the 
price  for  manufacturers  to  the  local  trade,  as  long  as  the  grower's  syrup 
syrup  holds  out. 

We  have  determined  in  the  future  to  purchase  our  cane  by  the  ton,  deliv- 
ered  at  the  mill,  and  when  so  delivered  will  test  the  juice  in  the  presence  of 
the  grower,  and  purchase  it  from  him,  same  as  grain  and  other  farm  products 
are  purchased,  according  to  quality.  The  actual  value  of  the  cane  will  be 
determined  by  the  quality  of  the  juice,- and  will  bo  worth  to  the  manufac- 
turer from  $1.50  to  .|4.50  per  ton,  and  even  $5.00  per  ton  for  extra  cane,  and 
according  to  the  state  of  the  syrup  and  sugar  market,  and  the  different  de- 
grees of  purity  of  the  juice,  and  the  amount  of  sucrose  contained  in  the  raw 
juice  at  the  time  of  delivery  of  the  cane  at  the  mill. 

Our  custom  has  been  to  charge  the  growers  25  cents  per  gallon,  or  one-half 
of  the  syrup. 

Our  works  consist  of  a  storage  room  20  by  40  feet,  one  story,  shingle  roof 
building,  attached  to  our  defecating,  evaporating  and  finishing  building, 
which  is  20  by  20,  two  stories  high,  and  a  shed  attached  for  cane  mill,  boiler 
and  engine. 

Our  machinery  consists  of  boiler,  engine,  mill,  juice  tank,  juice  pumpy 
defecators,  evaporators,  finishing-pan,  cooler  and  storage  tanks. 

The  juice  runs  directly  from  the  mill  to  the  juice  tank,  and  is  pumped  up 
to  the  top  floor  into  the  defecator,  and  after  tbe  defecation  is  made,  it  is  dis- 
charged directly  into  the  evaporator  and  rapidly  reduced  to  a  thin  semi- 
syrup,  and  is  then  discharged  into  the  finishing  pan  and  concentrated  rap- 
idly, if  for  syrup,  to  a  commercial  density,  and  drawn  oft'  into  the  cooler,  and 
almost  immediately  discharged  into  storage  tanks  sufficiently  large  to  hold, 
each  one  of  them,  a  little  over  a  car  load. 

When  enough  h^s  been  made  for  a  car  load,  the  barrels,  three  of  them  at  a 
time,  are  rolled  under  faucets  and  filled.  In  that  way  it  does  not  take  us  long 
to  fill  enough  barrels  for  a  car  load.    We  then  ship  generally  to  a  wholesale 


42 


market.  Thus  we  have  a  continuous  fall  from  the  defecator  to  the  barrels, 
without  any  rehandling  of  the  syrup?;  and  by  cooling  the  syrup  at  once,  after 
discharging  into  tlie  cooler,  it  prevents  the  syrup  from  darkening  by  being 
syrup  PC  relied  in  running  a  succession  of  batches  of  hot  syrup  into  a  tank 
at  a  high  temperature  of  heat,  so  long  that  it  darkens  the  syrup  and  lessens 
its  value  as  a  commercial  article. 

Our  machinery  is  constructed  and  arranged  to  save  labor  and  more  perfectly 
clarify  the  juice  and  hasten  the  evaporation  in  the  most  rapid  manner. 
Our  defecators  are  so  arranged  and  constructed  that  we  do  not  have  to  skim 
the  juice  in  them,  and  a  simple  attachment  we  have,  permits  drawing  the 
juice  into  the  evaporator,  as  clear  as  water.  The  knowledge  of  the  fact 
gained  by  our  o«n  practical  experience  that  the  success  of  making  a  bright, 
glossy  sugar,  and  a  light  colored,  cleir,  transparent  syrup,  "  without "  the 
use  of  the  expensive  "  char-filters,"  depended  upon  a  perfect  defecation,  and 
a  rapid  concentration  of  tlie  juice  to  the  required  density,  enabled  us  to 
build  a  style  of  evaporator  that  has  produced  the  desired  result,  by  enabling 
us  to  concentrate  the  juice  rapidly,  and  at  the  same  time  liberate  certain  im- 
purities that  can  be  eliminated  in  no  otixer  manner  known  to  us  but  by  the 
application  of  heat;  and  when  those  impurities  are  separated  and  thrown  to 
the  surface,  they  flow  rapidly  to  the  automatic  skimmer  and  filter,  wh'  re  they 
are  retained  and  forced  over  into  the  scum  trough  in  a  comparatively  dry 
condition,  and  the  strained  and  filtered  juice  passing  through  the  fi  ter  rap- 
idly,  is  returned  immediately  to  the  evaporator,  again  clear  and  transparent. 
In  this  manner  we  keep  up  a  constant  current,  flowing  on  top  to  the  auto- 
matic skimmer  and  filter,  and  another  reverse  current  of  the  filtered  juice 
returning  by  way  of  the  bottom  of  the  pan,  to  again  come  in  contact  with 
the  heat  and  thrown  to  the  top,  separating  the  remaining  impurities,  and 
keeping  up  a  constant  circulation  of  the  juice  and  producing  the  most  rapid 
evaporation  that  can  be  made,  and  the  straiaer  and  filter  catching  and  retain- 
ing all  the  impurities  of  the  minutest  character  that  have  been  separated  from 
the  juice,  and  preventing  them  from  again  mingling  with  the  boiling  juice, 
and  giving  it  a  bad  flavor  and  darker  and  cloudy  appearance.  All  experts 
in  the  use  of  steam  concede  that  in  order  to  produce  the  most  rapid  evapora- 
tion,  there  must  be  a  constant  circulation,  and  we  are  very  much  gratified 
with  the  manner  in  which  our  pans  have  operated,  as  they  have  enabled  us 
to  produce  an  article  of  syrup  that  has  sold  in  the  wholesale  markets  in  com- 
petition with  the  best  products  of  the  country,  made  by  either  the  open  pan 
train  or  vacuum  pan  and  cliar  filters  combined. 

It  saves  labor,  and  above  all  things  we  prize  it  on  account  of  its  perfect 
work  skimming  t'  e  juice,  and  not  endangering  a  depreciation  in  the  value  of 
the  syrup  by  being  imperfectly  skimmed  by  tired  and  careless  help;  for  witb- 
out  perfect  skimming  ofT  of  the  impurities  .after  they  Lave  once  been  sepa- 
rated,  to  keep  them  from  being  reboiled  into  the  syrup  again,  there  is  danger 
that  more  or  less  of  the  batches  or  strikes  will  be  run  into  the  storage  tank 
in  a  cloudy  condition,  and  consequently  of  bad  flavor,  and   help  to  destroy 


43 


or  depreciate  what  good  syrup  there  is  in  tte  tank;  and  if  it  is  intended  for 
sugar,  it  will  te  what  is  called  a  gray  sugar,  having  a  dull,  dirty  appearance. 
It  was  a  case  of  this  kind  that  occurred  to  us  when  we  first  commenced  that 
suggested  this  plan  of  evaporation  to  me  for  our  own  safety  and  protection. 
Our  finishing  pan  is  similar  to  our  evaporator,  but  smaller  in  dimensions. 

Our  cooler  works  admirably,  and  is  actually  necessary  in  large  works  to 
cool  the  syrup  immediately  after  finishing  for  commercial  use  or  for  sugar 
making. 

Our  whole  outfit,  including  land,  buildings  and  macbinery,  cost  about 
$6,000,  and  has  a  capacity  of  making  from  eight  to  twelve  hrndred  gallons 
of  syrup  per  day.  The  amount  of  syrup  made  per  day  depends  mostly  upon 
the  strength  of  the  juice  we  are  making. 

In  regard  to  mj'-  ideas  of  the  future  of  this  industry,  I  would  say  I  have 
had  no  occasion  to  change  my  opinion  expressed  three  years  ago.  I  then 
made  up  my  mind  that  if  t  e  indostry  was  conducted  on  strictly  business 
principles  there  was  money  in  it  for  the  farmer  and  the  manufacturer  of  syrup 
alone,  even  if  they  should  fail  to  produce  sugar;  and  my  past  experience  has 
confirmed  that  belief.  And  your  own  valuable  experiments  made  at  the  Uni- 
versity farm  this  past  season,  witli  the  able  assistence  of  the  department 
chemist,  Mr.  Swenson,  will  dispel  the  doubts  that  existed  in  the  minds  of 
many,  who  could  not  possibly  be  persuaded  to  believe  that  sugar  could  be 
produced  here  at  home,  grown  on  our  own  farms. 

The  many  central  works  and  refineries  devoted  exclusively  to  llie  sorgo 
industry,  that  have  been  put  in  operation  in  many  of  the  states,  at  a  cost  of 
from  $5,000  to  $60,000  each,  is  evidence  of  the  fact  that  the  most  timid  and 
skeptical  factor  in  the  development  of  this  new  industry  —  capital  —  has  be- 
come convinced  that  it  is  a  safe  investment ;  after  the  most  careful  and  search- 
ing scrutiny  have  united  with  science  and  skill  and  are  partly  carrying  out  the 
idea  of  central  works,  that  I  have  been  laboring  to  establish  in  this  state, 
and  the  fine  results  you  have  obtained  in  your  experiments  will  hasten  the 
time  of  its  realization. 

There  seems  to  me  to  be  no  other  practical  way  of  meeting  the  require- 
ments  of  this  rapidly  growing  business  than  by  establishing  central  works. 

A  central  works  located  at  some  point  accessible  by  rail  from  several  direc- 
tions, to  facilitate  receiving  raw  syrups  from  a  large  amount  of  territory, 
and  fully  equipped  with  all  the  latest  improved  mechanical  appliances 
that  have  been  tested  and  proven  to  be  well  adapted  to  the  manipulation  of 
the  sorgo  juice,  to  manufacture  a  first  class  commercial  syrup,  and  a  soft 
white  and  yellow  sugar.  The  central  works  should  have  a  capacity  of  grind- 
ing from  800  to  500  acres  of  cane  annually,  to  insure  having  a  sufficient 
amount  of  business  early  in  the  season,  so  as  to  keep  the  works  in  operation 
as  much  as  possible  during  the  year.  The  central  works  could  have  nearly 
or  quite  all  of  their  crop  worked  up  before  they  would  be  able  to  obtain 
semisyrup  from  the  auxiliary  works,  for  making  sugar  and  refined  syrups 
from.    The  central  works  should  be  under  the  management  of  some  one  who 


u 


has  a  practical  knowledge,  and  is  qualified  to  instruct  operators  of  the  auxil- 
iary works  how  to  make  the  semi-syrup  and  leave  it  in  proper  condition  for 
the  central  works. 

Suitable  buildings  and  machinery  to  work  up  500  acres  of  cane,  and  rework 
the  semi-gyrup  made  by  the  auxiliary  works,  from  3  500  acres,  into  sugars 
and  syrups,  taking  eight  months  in  the  year,  would  cost  fl!25,0C0,  all  fitted  up 
ready  for  business. 

It  is  not  practicable  to  haul  the  cane  more  than  three  miles  to  mill,  and  ta 
obtain  a  sufficient  amount  of  raw  syrups  for  a  central  works  of  such  a  char- 
acter requires  many  auxiliary  works,  large  and  small,  operated  by  steam  or 
open  fire  train  (steam  being  the  cheapest  and  best,  and  destroys  less  sucrose, 
is  preferable),  to  make  the  semi-syrup,  which  an  intelligent  and  careful  ope- 
rator can  do  successfully  by  working  under  instructions  from  a  competent 
manager  of  a  central  works. 

To  fit  up  a  steam  train  so  all  the  machinery  will  be  properly  proportioned, 
to  insure  the  least  expense  in  manufacturing,  and  produce  an  acceptable  ar- 
ticle, requires  the  aid  of  some  one  who  has  sufficient  practical  knowledge  to 
determine,  when  informed  of  the  number  of  acres  designed  to  be  worked,  the 
size  of  mill  required,  the  amount  of  steam-generating  power  required,  beyond 
the  motive  power,  to  evaporate  the  amount  of  juice  expressed  by  the  mill 
in  less  than  an  hour,  and  the  number  of  square  feet  of  heating  surface  it  takes, 
■with  a  given  quantity  of  steam  under  a  certain  pressure,  to  evaporate  the 
juice  of  a  minimum  strength  down  to  semi-syrup,  in  the  required  time  to 
produce  the  best  results. 

The  lack  of  knowledge  on  these  very  essential  points  has  been  the  means 
of  causing  some  losses  and  discouragements  to  the  owners  of  the  works,  and 
the  growers  of  the  cane  also. 

In  conclusion,  I  beg  leave  to  say  in  behalf  of  many  farmers  who  have 
raised  the  cane,  and  many  more  who  desire  to  do  so,  that  I  have  conversed 
with  on  this  subject  in  many  diff'erent  parts  of  our  state,  that  they  hope  our  re- 
presentatives at  Madison  will  realize  what  great  interest  it  will  be  to  the  iarmers 
and  to  the  wealth  of  the  state  for  ihem  to  make  a  special  appropriation  suf- 
ficent  to  enable  you  and  your  very  able  assistant,  jMr;  Swenson,  the  depart- 
ment chemist,  to  continue  the  valuable  experiments  you  have  commenced 
and  that  have  produced  such  splendid  results,  as  to  justify  the  belief  that  this 
new  and  valuable  crop  will  be  extensively  raised  by  the  farmers  of  this  state 
in  the  near  future. 

They  feel  they  have  a  right  to  ask  for  an  appropriation  for  their  agri- 
cultural department  to  make  intelligent  and  systematic  experiments  (which 
the  farmers  are  unable  to  do),  to  determine  for  them  the  best  soils,  fertilizers, 
etc.,  to  use  in  developing  fortbemacrop  that  gives  such  good  promise  of 
being  of  so  great  a  value  to  them  and  the  whole  state.  They  also  feel  that  they 
are  behind  the  times  in  this  matter,  as  other  states  have  realized  the  impor- 
tance of  this  crop  to  such  an  extent  that  they  not  only  pay  a  premium  on 
every  pound  of  sugar  that  is  made  from  the  native  cane  raised  in  the  state, 


45 


and  exempt  from  taxation  for  five  years  all  the  machinery  employed  in  sugar 
making,  but  to  encourage  the  farmers  in  growing  cane  they  pay  them  a 
premium  for  every  ton  of  cane  they  produce. 

Hoping  that  you  may  be  permitted  to  continue  your  experiments  in  this 
sugar  industry  with  a  sufficient  amount  of  money  at  your  disjiosal  to  enable 
you  to  extend  your  field  of  usefulness  in  this  and  any  other  direction  that  will 
be  of  benefit  to  our  farming  community,  I  remain 

Respectfully  yours, 

A.  J.  RUSSELL. 


[From  J.  D.  Sherwood,  Green  Lake  county  .J 
Daktford,  Gueen  Lake  County,  Wis.,  December  18,  1881. 
Prof.  Henry,  Madison,  Wis.: 

Dear  Sir  —  In  reply  to  your  favor  of  8th  ult.,  would  say  that  I  rolled  347J^ 
tons,  averaging  7°  B.,  allowing  on  the  basis  of  50  per  cent,  of  juice,'expressed 
101-2  gallons  to  the  ton,  which  basis  has  given  about  100  gallons  to  the  acre 
on  clay  and  sandy  loam  soil.  The  highest  yield  was  G^Wo  tons,  testing  8°  B., 
from  one-third  of  an  acre,  raised  by  Wm.  McDonnell,  of  this  town,  being  at 
the  rate  of  338  gallons  per  acre,  and  the  lowest  yield  high  about  30  gallons  to 
the  acre,  juice  3^  B.  Commenced  September  9  on  the  above  yield,  the  seed  of 
which  was  ripe.  But  most  of  the  after  working  was  dough  to  ripe.  Most  of 
the  cane  was  planted  after  other  work,  and  thA  it  has  paid  better  than  any- 
thing else;  but  not  as  well  as  last  year,  owing  to  the  peculiar  season.  The 
cost  of  working  our  crop  of  eight  acres  was  ten  days'  work  fitting  ground; 
eight  days' work  planting  and  cultivating;  five  days'  work  thinning  out; 
forty-five  days  work  stripping  and  cutting,  and  then  only  one-half  of  it 
stripped,  as  it  was  badly  lodged;  twenty-four  days'  work  and  team  drawing 
one  and  a  half  miles ;  making  ninety  two  days'  work  for  70^;^  tons,  testing  7^ 
B.,  which  was  worked  at  twenty  cents  per  gallon,  and  also  at  the  halves,  cost- 
ing to  manufacturers,  including  the  twenty  per  cent,  wear  on  outfit  costing 
about  $4,000,  fourteen  cents  per  gallon,  which  is  more  than  it  will  next,  owing 
to  being  inexperienced  in  everything.  But  still  the  consumers  are  well 
pleased,  saying  that  they  cannot  replace  it  from  the  grocery.  Families  are 
using  five  gallons  where  they  only  used  one  before,  with  a  very  great  differ- 
ence in  their  sugar  bill  to  their  credit ;  and  why  not  ?  It  is  cane  sugar  instead  of 
the  insipid  glucose  backed  with  a  little  sorghum  that  is  dealt  out  by  most  of 
the  stores  as  "  sugar  house."  There  is  no  doubt  at  all  in  the  fact  that  very 
soon  we  shall  manufacture  most  of  sugar  and  syrup  and  my  very  greatest 
fear  is  that  it  will  be  overdone,  as  those  who  raise  it  increase  their  acreage. 
I  find  that  the  best  sales  are  made  where  it  is  known.  It  brings  from  45  to 
60  cents  per  gallon. 

My  outfit  is  a  %%  Niles  and  complete  steam  train,  with  12  horse-power 
engine  and  45  horse-power  boiler,  from  Blymer  &  Co.,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
Burn  bagasse  and  coal,  which  makes  the  cost  about  five  cents  per  gallon. 


46 


Trustine  that  the  above  hastily  condensed  items  are  encouraging  to  you  in 
you  practical  endeavors  to  place  on  a  good  foundation  one  of  the  best  in- 
dustries of  the  northv?est,  and  hoping  that  success  will  continue  to  crown 
your  labors,  I  remain 

Very  truly  yours, 

J.D.SHERWOOD. 


[The  following  extract  from  a  letter  from  Joseph  H.  Osborn,  Esq..  Oshkosh^ 
Wisconsin,  contains  some  valuable  suggestions:] 

"  I  am  satisfied  that  the  sooner  cane  is  worked  up  after  it  is  cut,  the  better 
will  be  the  clia'acterof  the  syrup  made  from  it.  I  have  no  faith  in  the  cur- 
ing  process'wbich  has  been  recommended  frequently. 

"  Again,  the  cane  should  be  kept  clean.  Carelessness  in  this  respect  cannot 
be  remedied  in  small  works  like  mine.  The  dirt  will  be  carried  through 
into  the  syr^ip  and  is  very  damaging  in  its  eflect.  Large  establishments 
might  provide  for  taking  it  out,  but  in  this  case  prevention  is  belter  than 
cure. 

"  I  am  very  glad  that  the  farmer  and  rural  manufacturer  is  likely  to  have 
the  aid  ot  scientific  gentlemen  in  developing  this  '  new  industry.' 

"  There  are  a  great  many  things  in  connection  with  the  manufacture  of 
Byrup,  the  proper  knowledge  of  which  must  come  from  a  scientific  source. 
Among  these  is  the  correct  method  of  using  the  saccharometer.  Scarcely  a 
,  writa- in  the  Rural  World,\xpon  the  subject  of  Amber  cane  culture  and 
manufacture,  but  refers  to  the  test  of  the  j  nice  by  the  saccharometer.  He  may 
tell  hoiv  he  planted  the  seed  and  when;  how  he  cared  for  the  crop,  and  how 
he  harvested  it;  but  when  he  says  the  juice  tested  T  B.  or  12^  B.,  he  does  not 
state  what  were  the  conditions  of  the  test.  Did  he  test  the  juice  as  it  run 
from  the  machine?  If  so,  did  he  also  test  it  by  the  thermometer?  If  it  was 
not  60"  by  the  thermometer,  did  he  take  means  to  make  it  so?  If  yea,  how 
did  he  proceed  ? 

"Again,  if  he  tested  the  juice  by  the  saccharometer  as  it  came  directly 
from  the  mill,  and  a^so  by  the  thermometer,  even  if  the  latter  indicated  60°, 
did  he  allow  the  juice  to  stand  an  hour  and  test  it  again;  and,  if  so,  was  the 
result  the  same?  I  think  not;  my  experience  is  that  there  will  be  several 
degrees  difference.  If  Prof.  Collier  stated  that  juice  tested  a  certain  degree, 
I  should  of  course  know  that  the  conditions  of  test  were  correct;  but  from 
my  own  experience,  I  doubt  very  much  if  all  the  writers  for  the  Rural  World 
who  state  results  by  the  saccharometer,  can  be  relied  upon  as  having  secured 
the  correct  conditions  necessary  for  the  test.  It  seems  to  me  that  correct  in- 
formation upon  the  correct  use  of  the  saccharometer  should  be  given  in  a 
popular  way  for  the  benefits  of  those  engaged  in  this  Amber  cane  business. 

"  Again,  in  regard  to  the  use  of  lime.  Are  we  to  accept  it  for  a  settled  fact 
that  if  the  cold  juice  is  tested  with  lime,  that  it  can  be  allowed  to  stand 
without  injury  for  a  length  of  time.     (If  so,  how  long?)    If  I  remember 

correctly,  this  statement  was  made  by  Prof. ,  of  Illinois,  through 

the  Rural  World. 


47 


"  Again,  grinted  that  lime  is  used  with  the  co^^  juice,  and  heat  subscqueatly 
applied  to  aid  defecation,  should  the  evaporation  be  proceeded  v\ith  at  once, 
or  could  the  warm  juice  be  allowed  to  stvnd  any  length  of  time;  and  if  so, 
would  it  aid  the  clarification,  or  siiould,  or  could  some  additional  method 
of  clarification  be  used  before  commencing  the  evaporation? 

"Again,  in  years  gone  by,  when  the  making  of  sugar  from  corn  stalks 
was  lalked  about,  the  removal  of  the  young  ears  of  corn  was  said  to  be 
essential  to  develop  the  greatest  amount  of  sugar  in  the  stalk.  Question. 
Would  science  consider  that  the  remival  of  the  young  seed  tift  from  the 
cane  would  add  to  the  strength  of  the  cane  juice?  Your  circular  called  for 
facts.  I  have  given  mostly  suggestions,  or  at  least  I  hop3  you  will  consider, 
and  treat  them  as  such.  Truly  yours, 

"JOSEPH  H.  ORTON." 


'{To  those  in  doubt  as  to  whether  it  pays  to  grow  cane,  I  would  refer  the 
following  letter  sent  me  by  one  of  our  careful  farmers.  It  is  the  most  com- 
plete statement  I  have  yet  seen  and  deserves  careful  attention  :J 

Kexosha,  Wis.,  February  26,  1881. 
Professor  W.  A.  Henky,  Madison,  Wisconsin: 

Dear  Sir —  I  herewith  give  you  the  result  of  growing  one  acre  of  Amber 
sugarcane  in  1880.  The  plot  of  ground  is  compose  1  of  black  muck,  verg- 
ing into  a  sand  loam,  two-thirds  of  the  plot  being  the  former  and  f.ne-third 
the  latter.  There  were  about  four  rods  of  very  low  ground  on  which  the 
cane  grew  very  rank  and  lodged.  There  was  no  waste  ground.  In  1879  it 
WHS  heavily  m  nured  and  a  very  heavi/  g  owth  of  crilled  fodder  corn  raised, 
and  plowed  that  fall.  The  ground  was  dragged  and  marked  in  rows  one 
way,  three  feet  and  a  half  apart,  extendin;,'  north  and  south,  on  Mny  20th, 
and  on  May  2 1st  it  was  plantel  by  hand,  dropping  the  seed  in  the  marks 
made  by  the  marker  and  covering  with  the  foot.  Two  pounds  of  seed  were 
used.  One  half  of  it  was  planted  fr.^m  twelve  to  eighteen  inchrs  apart  and 
tbe  other  from  twelve  to  twenty  five  inches.  I  think  it  would  average  sevea 
or  eight*  seed  to  a  hill.  It  was  then  rolled,  and  cultivated  twice  with  a  two. 
horse  cultivator.  One  man  spent  one  day  on  the  piece  with  the  hoe  cutting 
out  grass  between  the  hills.  This  would  not  have  been  necessary  had  the 
seed  ci  me  up  evenly.  One-thirJ  of  the  piece  was  dry  and  the  seed  not  being 
covered  any  deeper,  did  not  come  up  for  two  weeks,  hence  could  not  culti- 
vale  it  evenlj'.  It  was  stripped  by  hand  at  intervals  from  September  14th  to 
September  27th,  cut  and  bound  September  28th,  drawn  to  mill  on  the  29lh 
and  30th,  carefully  weighed  and  piled.    Total  weight,  13|fi5f  tons. 

The  first  halt,  or  that  planted  the  thickest,  weighed  about  eight  tons,  and 
the  other  half  HUo  tons.  The  cane  was  made  up  October  7lh,  and  yielded 
one  hundred  and  seventy  gallois  of  syrup,  weighing  eleven  and  a  half 
pounds  to  tlie  gallon.  The  juice  tested  7Q4  by  the  saccharometer  and  was 
boiled  down  to  forty.    There  was  one  load  of  leaves  saved  for  fodder,  and 


48 


three  double  boxes  of  seed  which  was  fed  to  the  pigs.    I  estimate  the  value 
of  the  crop  as  follows: 


Dr. 


To  interest  on  land $2  00 

half  day's  work  plowing.. .  150 

dragging  and  marking 50 

two  pounds  seed 70 

planting 1  00 

hoeing 100 

cultivating 1  00 

stripping 0  00 

cutting  and  binding 3  00 

topping  and  hauling 10  30 

hauling  fodder  and  feed  . .  1  00 

4  barrels  at  75c 3  00 

mating  170  gallons  at  20c. .  34  00 

Wi  00 
Balance 30  00 

$95  00 


Cr. 


By  fodder $10  00 

170  gallons  syrup  at  50c  . .  85  00 

$95  00 


M.  O.  MYRICK. 


[The  following  letter  from  H.  W.  Small  &  Co.,  Chicago,  will  certainly  be 
read  with  interest.  It  should  be  remembered  that  from  the  peculiar  line  of 
business  of  this  company  —  that  of  supplying  the  wholesale  trade  with  syr- 
ups  and  molasses  — it  is  in  a  position  unequalled  by  any  other  company  in 
the  west  to  judge  upon  the  true  merits  of  the  case:] 

Chicago,  December  28,  1881. 
Prof.  W.  A.  Henky,  Madison: 

Bear  Sir  —  We  have  your  favor  of  24th,  with  simples  of  sugar  and  syrup 
before  us.  You  have  obtained  a  remarkable  yield  from  your  experimental 
one-fiftb  acre.  One  thousand  pounds  of  good  brown  sugar  and  eighty  gal- 
lons of  syrup  per  acre  would  be  a  very  profitable  crop  for  any  of  our  farmers, 
and  we  read  with  very  much  interest  your  statement  that  the  analysis  of  the 
cane  showed  nearly  kcice  the  quantity  of  sugar  that  you  obtained;  or, 
in  other  words,  that  the  processes  for  extracting  the  sugar  from  Amber  cane 
is  so  imperfectly  understood,  at  present,  even  by  our  most  scientific  men, 
that  nearly  one-half  the  yield  is  lost.  Well,  this  only  confirms  our  opinion 
the  more  strongly  that  the  profitable  raising  of  Amber  cane  in  the  north,  for 
the  manufacture  of  sugar  and  syrup  or  molasses,  is  no  longer  an  experiment, 
but  an  assured  fact;  and,  although  but  just  in  its  infancy,  enough  has  been 
already  done  to  show  that  skill  in  its  manufacture  is  the  one  great  require- 
ment. 

Now,  we  not  only  would  not  advise  every  farraer  to  rush  in  blindly 
and  plant  a  few  quarter  acres  of  Amber  cane,  but  we  would  advise  that  they 


49 


do  no  such  thing  until  you,  who  are  giving  so  much  time  and  attention  to 
this  business,  learn  how,  and  "  icrite  a  book "  of  instructions,  so  that  every 
farmer  may  know  how,  without  the  possibility  of  a  failure.  Then  "exif* 
JTew  Orleans,  "  enter  "  Amber. 

We  have  received  samples  of  Amber  molasses,  this  season,  that  compare 
favorably  with  "  New  Orleans,"  while  other  lots  have  been  very  poor;  and 
the  difference,  so  far  as  we  can  learn,  was  not  so  much  in  the  soil,  or  climate, 
•or  seed,  as  in  the  "modus  operandi"  of  manufacture. 

The  sugar  is  there;  the  molasses  is  there.  How  to  secure  it,  after  it  is 
grown  and  ready  for  the  mill,  is  the  one  great  question  for  you  scientific 
men.  We  sincerely  hope  that  the  state  will  continue  to  foster  this  industry 
until  it  is  thoroughly  understood,  so  that  every  farmer  can  grow  his  own 
sugar  and  molasses  at  one  quarter  the  present  price  of  New  Orleans,  and, 
■what  may  be  even  better  than  that,  knoio  that  they  have  an  absolutely  pure 
article. 

The  better  grades  of  Amber  are  slowly  overcoming  the  old  prejudice 
against  sorghum,  and  we  believe  the  time  not  far  distant  when  a  choice 
Amber  molasses  will  be  more  sought  after  than  a  somewhat  doubtful  mix- 
ture of  New  Orleans  glucose  and  syrup. 

Wishing  you  every  success,  we  are 

Yours  truly, 

H.  W.  SMALL  &  CO. 


[The  following  letter  will  show  what  the  state  of  New  Jersey  has  done: 
JVIr.  Bishop,  es  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  and  Statistics,  has  a  rare 
chance  of  getting  at  reliable  facts  in  this  matter] 

Office  of  Bureau  op  Statistics  op  Labor  and  Industries, 

Trenton,  N.  J.,  January  31,  1882. 

Dear  8iv:—Yom  valued  favor  of  the  27th  is  at  hand,  but  as  my  4th  annual 
report  is  now  in  the  hands  of  the  printer  and  proof  coming  in  daily,  I  can 
only  give  a  hasty  sketch  of  what  has  been  done  in  New  Jersey  in  the  manu- 
facture of  sugar. 

At  the  last  session  oi!  the  legislature  an  act  was  passed  entitled  "  an  act  to 
encourage  the  manufacture  of  sugar  in  the  state  of  New  Jersey,"  approved 
February  16,  1881  (a  copy  of  the  act  will  be  found  on  page  14  of  the  Intro- 
duction in  the  3d  annual  report  of  the  Bureau). 

Mr.  John  Hitgerth,  a  practical  sugar  manufacturer  of  Philadelphia,  had 
been  experimenting  for  about  two  years  with  the  juice  of  the  sorghum,  hav- 
ing  contracted  with  some  farmer  of  South  Jersey  to  raise  the  cane  for  h-,m. 
He  put  up  a  horse  power  mill  to  crush  the  cane,  and  putting  the  juice  in 
casks,  sect  it  to  his  works  for  treatment,  and  became  fully  satisfied  from  his 
experiment  that  sugar  in  paying  quantities  could  be  made  from  the  best 
varieties  of  sorghum  cane. 


50 

In  the  spring  of  1881,  Mr.  H.  went  into  Cape  May  county,  New  Jersey,  and 
induced  a  number  of  farmers  to  put  in  sorghum  as  a  farni  crop,  and  entered 
into  contracts  covering  about  sixty  acres,  to  take  the  crop  of  cane,  stripped 
of  its  leaves  and  top,  ut  two  dollars  per  ton  of  2,000  pounds,  delivered  at  any 
point  on  the  West  Jersey  railroad,  he  paying  the  freight  to  his  factory.  The 
estimate  made  for  the  farmers  was  in  substance  as  follows: 

Average  tons  cane  per  acre,  ten,  at  $3  per  ton $20  00 

State  bounty,  $1  per  acre 10  00 

35  bushels  seed,  worth,  at  lowest  estimate,  50  cents  per  bushel 17  50 

Total UT  50 


Thus  giving  to  the  farmer  $47.50  per  acre  for  his  crop,  and  leaving  him  the 
leaves,  etc.,  to  use  for  fodder. 

The  ssason  being  one  of  unusual  drought,  the  average,  as  nearly  as  I  can 
estimate,  was  only  8  tons  to  the  acre;  but  the  seed  seemed  to  be  but  slightly 
afiected  in  yield,  and  gave  S}4  bushels  to  the  ton,  selling  for  75  cents  per 
bushel  of  CO  pounds.  It  is  considered  for  feeding  purposes  fully  equal'to 
Indian  corn. 

Having  thus  contracted  for  his  cane,  Mr.  H.  proceeded  in  the  spring  to 
erect  a  factory  at  Rio  Grande,  a  station  on  the  W.  J.  R.  R.,  about  6  miles  from 
Cape  May.  The  factory  was  filled  up  with  the  usual  machinery  for  making 
sugar  from  the  juice:  steam  evaporators,  defecators,  vacuum  pan,  ccutrifu- 
gals,  etc.  A  large  mill  for  crushing  the  cane  was  placed  on  the  first  floor, 
the  whole  being  run  by  an  engine  of  200-horse  power.  The  total  cost  was 
$65,000.  During  the  busy  season  the  mill  was  run  twenty  hours  a  day,  and 
used  200  tons  cane,  turning  out  15  000  pounds  good  merchantable  sugar, 
worth  8  cents  per  pound  in  Philadelphia. 

The  state  has  paid  a  bounty  on  1,500  tons  cane  to  the  present,  distributed 
among  50  farmers.  Applications  for  bounty  are  coming  in  every  week,  and 
doubtless  many  who  raised  small  amounts  will  never  apply.  With  regard  to 
the  number  of  pounds  of  sugar  made,  although  Mr.  Hitgerth  is  entitled  to  a 
bounty  of  one  cent  per  pound,  he  declines  filing  a  certificate  certifying  to 
the  amount;  therefore  when  I  say  it  was  not  far  from  20,000  pounds  it  is  only 
an  estimate.  What  the  farmers  of  New  Jersey  think  about  the  cultivation  of 
sorghum  as  a  crop,  may  be  judged  from  the  following  quotations  from  their 
letters : 

"  I  threshed  about  1,500  bushels  of  seed,  the  yield  of  cane  being  6  to  8  tons 
per  acre;  it  will  yield  from  3  to  S^o  bushels  to  the  ton,  and  is  selling  here 
for  70  cents  per  bushel.  It  is  superior  to  corn  for  fattening  hogs  and  chick- 
ens, and  is  a  first  class  feed  for  cattle  as  it  makes  plenty  of  milk." 

"  It  is  no  more  expensive  to  cultivate  than  corn ;  the  harvesting  may  cost 
about  10  per  cent,  more." 

"My  experience  has  led  me  to  believe  that  it  is  a  profitable  crop,  conse- 
quently I  am  going  to  plant  200  acres  the  coming  year." 

I  have  thus  given  briefly  and  in  haste  the  points  named  in  your  letter,  and 


51 

hope  the  state  of  Wisconsin  may  be  induced  to  promote  the  rapid  develop 
ment  of  an  industry  whose  future  is  so  bright,  and  the  fruits  of  which  will 
bring  such  prosperity  to  our  agriculturists. 

Yours  very  truly, 

JOHN  BISHOP, 

Chief, 


52 


THE  BEET  SUGAR  INDUSTRY  IN  FRANCE. 

I  would  invite  the  attention  of  those  who  are  unwilling  to  give 
Amber  cane  a  fair  trial,  to  consider  the  early  history  and  present 
■condition  of  the  beet  sugar  industry  in  France. 

Ii  would  appear  most  probable  that  slave  labor  in  the  tropics 
-with  such  a  plant  for  elaborating  the  sugar  as  the  Ribbon  cane, 
•would  foiever  prevent  peasarjt  labor  on  high  priced  land  which 
had  been  for  centuries  under  cultivation,  from  making  such  a 
plant  as  the  beet  yield  a  profitable  income,  yet  by  the  most  rigid 
applications  of  science  combined  with  careful  management  of 
machinery  and  strictest  economy  in  saving  all  by-products, 
France  is  now  producing  over  fifty  million  dollars  worth  of  sugar 
per  year. 

I  present  the  following  facts  taken  from  Dr.  McMurtrie's  report 
on  the  culture  of  the  sugar  beet :  ^ 

In  1797  Karl  Franz  Achard  announced  to  the  Institute  of 
France  that  he  was  able  to  manufacture  sugar  from  the  beet,  at  a 
cost  not  exceeding  six  cents  per  pound.  Though  his  statement 
was  met  with  ridicule,  a  committee  was  appointed  by  the  Insti- 
tute to  examine  his  methods  and  repeat  his  experiments. 

They  reported  as  a  result  of  these  tests  that  a  good  raw 
sugar  could  be  manufactured  for  about  eighteen  cents  per 
pound,  though  this  figure  might  be  somewhat  reduced  by  im- 
proved methods.  -  This  report  dampened  the  ardor  of  the  French, 
and  nothing  was  done  by  them  for  a  time,  but  in  Germany, 
Achard  and  Baron  de  Koppy  each  erected  works  and  made  con- 
siderable quantities  of  sugar. 

The  famous  Berlin  and  Milan  decrees,  which  excluded  all 
products  of  English  manufacture,  so  enhanced  the  prices  of 
sugar  in  Europe  that  these  manufactories  paid  good  profits,  and 
this  coupled  with  need,  again  drew  the  attention  of  the  French  to 
the  solution  of  the  problem.     The  enthusiasm  of  the  Emperor 

'  Eeport  on  [the  culture  of  the  sugar  beet  and  the  manufacture  of  sugar 
therefrom  in  France  and  the  United  States,  by  Wm.  McMurtrie,  E.  M.  Ph.  D. 
Washington,  1880. 


53 


Napoleon  was  enlisted  at  this  time,  and  nothing  can  better  ex- 
hibit the  indomitable  energy  which  he  showed  in  every  act  than 
his  first  decree  relative  to  the  sugar  and  indigo  industries.  I  give 
a  copy  of  it  entire  : 

Palace  of  the  Tuilleries,  March  25, 1811. 
Napoleon,  Emperor  of  the  French,  etc. : 

Upon  a  report  of  a  commission  appointed  to  examine  the  means  proposed 
to  naturalize,  upon  the  continent  of  our  empire,  sugar,  indigo,  cotton  and 
divers  other  productions  of  the  two  Indies: 

Upon  presentation  made  to  us  of  a  considerable  quantity  of  beet-root 
sugar,  refined,  crystallized  and  possessing  all  the  qualities  and  properties  of 
cane  sugar: 

Upo  I  the  presentation  made  to  us  at  the  council  of  commerce  of  a  great 
quantity  of  indigo,  extracted  from  the  plant  woad,  which  our  departments 
of  the  south  produce  in  abundance,  and  which  indigo  has  all  the  properties 
of  the  indigo  of  the  two  Indies: 

Having  reason  to  expect  that  by  means  of  these  two  precious  discoveries 
our  empire  will  shortly  be  relieved  from  an  exportatioa  of  100,000,000  francs 
($20,000,000)  hitherto  necessary  for  supplying  the  consumption  of  sugar  and 
indigo: 

We  have  decreed  and  do  decree  as  follows  : 

Article  1.  Plantations  of  beet  root  proper  for  the  manufacture  of  sugar 
shall  be  formed  in  our  empire  to  the  extent  of  33,000  hectares  (7f),040  acres). 

Articles.  Our  minister  of  the  interior  shall  distribute  33,003  hectares 
among  the  departments  of  our  empire,  taking  into  consideration  thosi 
departments  where  the  culture  of  tobacco  may  be  established,  and  those 
which  from  the  nature  of  the  soil  may  be  more  favorable  to  the  culture  of 
the  beet  root. 

Article  3.  Our  prefects  shall  take  measures  that  the  numbsr  of  hectares 
allotted  to  their  respective  departments  shall  be  in  full  cultivation  this  year, 
or  next  year  at  the  latest. 

Article  4.  A  certain  number  of  hectares  shall  be  laid  out  in  our  empire  in 
plantations  of  woad,  proper  to  the  manufacture  of  indigo,  in  the  proportion 
necessary  for  our  manufacture. 

Article  5.  Our  minister  of  the  interior  shall  distribute  the  siid  number 
among  the  departments  of  our  empire,  taking  into  particular  co  jsideration 
the  departments  beyond  the  Alps  and  those  of  the  south,  where  this  branch 
of  industry  formerly  made  great  progress. 

Article  6.  Our  prefects  shall  take  measures  that  the  number  of  hectares 
allotted  to  their  departments  shall  be  in  full  cultivation  next  year  at  the 
latest. 

Article  7.     The  commission  shall,  before  the  4th  of  ]May,  fix  upon  the  most 
convenient  places  for  the  establishment  of  six  experimental  schools  for  giv- 
ing  instruction  in  the  manufacture  of  beet-root  sugar,  conformably  to  the 
processes  of  chemists. 


54 


Article  8.  The  commission  sliall  also,  before  the  same  date,  fix  upon  the 
places  most  convenient  for  the  establishment  of  four  experimental  schools 
for  giving  instruction  upon  the  extraction  of  indigo  from  the  lees  of  woad, 
according  to  the  processes  approved  by  the  commission. 

Article  9.  Our  minister  of  the  interior  shall  make  known  to  the  prefects 
in  what  places  these  schools  shall  be  formed,  and  to  which  pupils  destined 
to  this  manufacture  should  be  sent.  Proprietors  and  farmers  who  may  wish 
to  attend  a  course  of  lectures  in  said  experimental  schools  shall  be  admitted 
thereto. 

Article  10.  Messrs.  Barruel  and  Isuard,  who  have  brought  to  perfection 
the  processes  for  extracting  sugar  from  the  beet  root,  shall  be  specially 
charged  with  the  direction  of  two  of  the  six  experimental  schools. 

Article  11.  Our  minister  of  the  interior  shall,  in  consequence,  cause  to  be 
paid  the  sum  necessary  for  the  formation  of  the  said  establishment,  which 
sum  shall  be  charged  to  the  fund  of  1,000,000  francs  ($200,000)  in  the  budget 
of  1811,  at  the  disposal  of  the  said  minister  for  the  encouragement  of  beet- 
root sugar  and  woad  indigo. 

Article  12.  From  1st  of  January,  1813,  and  upon  a  report  to  be  made  to 
our  minister  of  the  interior,  t'  e  sugar  and  indigo  of  the  two  Indies  shall  be 
prohibited,  and  considered  as  merchandise  of  English  manufacture,  or  pro- 
ceeding from  English  commerce. 

Article  13.  Our  minister  of  the  interior  is  charged  with  the  execution  of 
the  present  decree. 

The  following  decree  shows  that  in  1S12  the  subject  was  still 
under  consideration  : 

SECTION  I.— School  for  3Iatiufacture  of  Beet-Root  Sugar. 

Article  1.  The  factory  of  Messrs.  Barrtiel  and  Chappelet,  plain  of  Vertus, 
and  those  established  at  Wacheuheim,  department  of  Mont-Tonnere,  at 
Douai,  Strasbourg,  and  at  Castelnaudary,  are  established  as  special  schools 
for  the  manufacture  of  beet-root  sugar. 

Article  2.  One  hundred  students  shall  be  attached  to  these  schools,  viz : 
40  at  that  of  Messrs.  Barruel  and  Chappelet,  and  15  at  each  of  those  at 
Wachenheim,  Douai,  Strasbourg,  and  Castelnaudary;  total,  100. 

Article  3.  These  students  shall  be  selected  from  among  tte  students  in 
medicine,  pharmacy  and  chemistry. 

Section  II. —  Ctdture  of  Beets. 

Article  4.  Our  minister  of  the  interior  shall  take  measures  to  cause  to  be 
sown  throughout  our  empire  100,000  metrical  arpents  of  beets.  The  condi- 
tions of  the  distribution  of  the  culture  shall  be  printed  and  sent  to  the  pre- 
fects previous  to  February  15. 

Section  III. —  Manufacture. 

Article  5.  There  shall  be  accorded  throughout  our  entire  empire  500 
licenses  for  the  manufacture  of  beet-root  sugar. 


55 


Article  6.  These  licenses  shall  be  accorded  of  preference  to  all  proprietors 
of  factories  and  refineries;  to  all  who  have  manufactured  sugar  during  1811; 
to  all  who  have  made  preparations  and  expenditures  for  the  establishment  of 
factories  for  work  in  1813. 

Article  7.  Of  these  licenses  there  shall  be  accorded  of  right  one  to  each 
department. 

Article  8.  Prefects  shall  write  to  all  proprietors  of  refineries  in  order  that 
they  make  their  submissions  tor  the  establishment  of  said  factories  at  the 
close  of  1813.  In  default  of  the  proprietors  of  refineries  to  have  made  their 
submissions  prior  to  March  15,  or  at  the  latest  April  15,  they  shall  be  con- 
sidered as  having  renounced  the  preference  accorded  them. 

Article  9.  Licenses  sball  include  an  obligation  on  the  part  of  those  who 
shall  receive  them  to  establish  a  factory  capable  of  producing  at  least  10,000 
kilograms  (28,000  pounds)  of  raw  sugar  in  1812-13. 

Article  10.  Each  individual  who,  having  received  a  license,  shall  have 
actually  manufactured  nearly  10,000  kilograms  of  raw  sugar  resulting  from 
the  crop  of  1813  to  1813,  shall  have  the  privilege  and  assurance,  by  way  of 
encouragement,  of  being  subject  to  no  tax  or  octroi  upon  the  product  of 
his  manufacture  for  the  space  of  four  years. 

Article  11.  Each  individual  who  shall  perfect  the  manufacture  of  sugar 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  obtain  a  larger  quantity  from  the  beet;  or  who  shall 
invent  a  more  simple  and  economical  method  of  manufacture,  shall  obtain  a 
license  for  a  longer  time,  with  the  assurance  that  no  duty  or  uctroi  shall  be 
placed  upon  the  product  of  his  manufacture  during  the  continuance  of  his 
license. 

Section  IV. —  Creation  of  Four  Imperial  Factories. 

Article  12.  Four  imperial  btet-sugar  factories  shall  be  established  in  1813 
under  the  care  of  our  minister  of  the  interior. 

Article  13.  These  factories  shall  be  so  arranged  as  to  produce  with  the 
crop  of  1813  to  1813,  2,000,000  kilograms  of  raw  sugar. 

Under  this  stimulus  io  1813,  334:  factories  prepared  7,700,000 
pounds  of  beet  sugar.  The  industry  developed  rapidly  under  the 
fostering  care  of  Napoleon,  until  Jais  downfall.  With  the  over- 
throw of  the  monarch,  all  of  the  factories  were  wrecked  except 
one.  The  high  duties  imposed  by  the  new  government  soon 
again  made  the  business  profitable  ;  factories  were  again  opened, 
and  Irom  that  time  to  the  present  it  has  received  no  check  of 
serious  importance.  The  following  table  will  show  the  condition 
of  this  industry  in  1873,  1874  and  1875  : 


56 


Number  of  factories 

Laborers  employed 

Force  employed,  horse-power 

Production  of  su|rar,  tons 

Production  of  molasses,  tons 
Total  value  of  production  — 


187 


5:« 

73,485 

63,819 

409,9.16 

331,770 

$54,185,704 


1874. 


543 

74, 875 

69.999 

423,222 

214,017 

$54,294,968 


1875. 


68, 583 

71,335 

463, 122 

199,248 

$54,425,757 


The  tax  levied  by  the  French  government  upon  home  manu- 
factured" raw  sugar  is  73.50  francs  ($14.90)  per  100  kilos;ram3 
(220  pounds).  The  duty  upon  sugar  imported  in  France  varies 
from  65.52  to  71.76  francs  per  100  kilograms,  according  to  qual- 
ity, etc. 

In  1877  and  1878  the  sum  realized  from  taxes  on  home  made 
sugar  by  the  government  of  France  was  as  follows  : 


Kinds  of  Sugars. 

1877. 

1878. 

Tmnnrt  rJntv  r>n  rnlnninl  ^ncrar            

$7,540,800 

6,886,000 

23,088,400 

$6,768,760 

T»m-inrt  rlntv  nn  fnrpioTi  <*niTnr 

8,643,000 

Duty  on  manufacture  of  indigenous  sugars 

17, 035,  600 

Total                                           

$36  515,200 

$33,446,360 

The  cost  of  manufiacturing  sugar  from  beets  is  given  by  Dr. 
McMurtrie  in  the  following  table  : 

"Statement  of  expenses  and  receipts  resultiEg  from  the  transformation  of 
one  ton  (2,200  pounds)  of  beets  into  raw  sugar,  Nos.  7-9  to  No.  13,  molasses 
at  40°  and  other  residues  —  the  beets  delivered  at  the  woiks,  the  sugars  deliv- 
ered  at  station,  molasses  and  other  residues  taken  at  the  works." 

[The  figures  of  the  tables  give  the  average  of  four  factories,  producing 
annually  about  10,000  sacks  (220  pounds  each)  of  raw  sugar,  and  working 
by  means  of  new  processes  and  machinery,  double  saturation  of  the  juice, 
triple  effect  for  the  evaporation  and  boiling  for  crystallization  {cui(e  en  grains) 
of  the  syrups.] 


57 


Detail  of  Expenses  for  One   Ton  (2,200  lbs.)  of  Beets, 


Nomenclature  of  the  principal   ig7Q_74 
general  costs  of  manufacture.    I 


1874-75. 


1875-76. 


1876-77.1877-78. 


Purchase  of  beets 

Pay  of  laborers 

Employees 

Incidentals 

Patent  rights 

Kepair  of  machinery 

Duty' 

Transportation 

Oils,  grease,  etc 

Animal  charcoal 

Insurance  of  workmen 

Discounts,  interests,  commission 

Limestone  and  coke 

Coal 

Woolen  sacks,  sugar  sacks,  etc  . 


$4  00 
76 
18 
03 
08 
41 


$4  09 
74 
17 
03 
07 
39 


$4  07 
77 
16 
03 
07 
43 


$3  76 
71 
18 
03 
08 
47 


Total $7  09       $7  05       $7  07 


29 


$6  68 


$4  11 

73 
18 


$6  89 


'The  duty  on  sugar,  equivalent  to  73.50  francs,  $14.90  per  100  kilograms 
(220  lbs.)  of  raw  sugar,  is  not  comprised  in  the  figures  noted  here,  neither  in 
the  expenses  nor  in  the  receipts.  The  public  treasury  accords  four  months 
of  credit  to  the  refiner,  who  is  charged  with  the  payment  of  this  tax,  and  it 
is  therefore  not  included  in  the  price  of  sale. 


58 


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59 


Eecapitulation. 

[In  this  statement  is  not  included  the  interest  upon   the  joint  capital,  this 
capital  being  variable  according  aa  the  works  are  old  or  new.] 


1873-74. 

1874-75. 

1875-76. 

1876-77. 

1877-78. 

Total  value  of  products    

$7  1)0 
7  08 

$8  27 
7  06 

$6  67 

7  06 

39 

$7  61 
6  C8 

$8  99 

6  88 

Total  expenses 

Diflcrence  in  loss      . .  • .   

Difiercnce  in  profits        

83 

1  23 

93 

2  13 

60 


THE   ENSILAGE  OF  FODDERS. 

THE    SILO. 

Conformatory  to  the  act  of  the  legislature,  a  silo  was  built  upon 
the  farm  for  the  preservation  of  green  fodders.  It  is  30  feet  long, 
15  feet  wide,  outside  measurement,  and  15  feet  deep.  The  walls 
are  18  inches  thick,  the  material  ibeing  sandstone  rubble,  laid  in 
strong  mortar.  It  stands  about  half  under  ground  with  the  end 
joining  the  main  barn.  There  are  no  doors  or  openings  of  any- 
kind  on  the  sides  or  bottom,  which  are  well  coated  with  Milwau- 
kee cement,  so  as  to  be  air  and  water  tight.  Over  this  silo  or 
cellar  is  a  low  frame  building  with  the  sides  6  feet  in  height  and 
11  feet  to  the  peak  of  the  roof.  Inside  of  the  superstructure  is 
a  3-foot  wall  of  2iach  plank  set  on  edge  running  all  around  it, 
forming  a  continuation  of  the  stone  wall  of  the  silo  proper.  By 
means  of  this  plank  wall  the  silo  can  be  filled  with  ensilage  three 
feet  higher  than  the  stone  wall.  Yet  upon  settling,  all  the  ensi- 
lage will  be  pressed  within  the  silo  proper. 

From  this  description  it  will  be  seen  that  the  silo  is  simply  a 
stone  cellar  with  cemented  walls,  or  we  may  term  it  an  immense 
cistern.  Over  this  cellar  is  placed  a  low  building  to  keep  out 
rain.  The  silo  is  entered  from  the  main  barn  floor,  which  is  on  a 
level  with  the  top  of  the  stone  wall,  a  doorway  being  cut  in  the 
side  of  the  barn  for  this  purpose.  A  ladder  is  used  to  reach  the 
bottom  of  the  silo.  The  ensilage  is  passed  out  through  large 
double  doors  at  the  end  of  the  superstructure. 

The  best  location  for  the  silo  is  of  course  on  a  side  hill  with 
only  an  end  exposed,  if  possible,  and  in  this,  near  the  bottom,  to 
have  a  door  for  taking  out  the  ensilage.  We  unfortunately  have 
no  sidehill  near  the  farm  buildings,  and  as  the  silo  could  be  put 
half  under  ground,  it,  seemed  the  cheapest  and  most  convenient 
to  have  no  opening  on  the  sides,  but  to  lift  the  ensilage  from  the 
bottom  clear  over  the  top  of  the  wall  by  horse  power.  This  pro- 
cess will  be  de?cribed  later. 

The  stone  for  the  silo  was  drawn  from  the  quarry  at  odd  times 
by  the  farm  teams,  and  this  expense,  together  with  the  cost  of  ex- 
cavation, are  not  included  in  the  account  of  expenses. 


61 


The  other  items  are  as  follows  : 

%)  days'  work  by  masons  at  $3 ^TS  00 

12  days' Irtbor  at  .n.TS 21  00 

15  days' labor  at  $1.25 • 18  75 

21  cords  of  stone  at  $2.50 52  50 

13  barrels  cement  at  $2 26  00 

70  bushels  lime  at  2S  cents 19  60 

Frame  building  over  silo,  etc 119  41 

Ensilage  cutter,  including  freight 81  27 

Total $413  42 

All  this  was  done  in  the  best  manner  possible,  as  it  was  desirable 
to  have  no  failure  from  an  unfit  building.  The  floor  was  made 
of  small  boulders  bedded  in  cement  and  is  nearly  six  inches  thick, 
as  I  was  greatly  afraid  that  during  wet  weather  water  would  be 
forced  up  through  the  bottom.  The  walls  inside  are  cemented  so 
ag  to  be  smooth,  and  offer  no  projections  on  which  the  planks 
covering  the  ensilage  might  catch  in  settling. 

The  cost  of  this  silo  is  no  criterion  for  others.  Any  farmer 
can  soon  ascertain  what  one  will  cost  him  by  asking  "  what  will 
a  cellar  of  desired  size,  built  of  stone,  brick  or  concrete,  and 
cemented  inside,  cost  me  here  on  my  own  farm  ?  " 

Add  to  this  the  cost  of  some  kind  of  roof  to  keep  out  rain,  and 
enough  two  inch  plank  to  make  a  covering  over  the  ensilage 
when  the  silo  is  filled,  and  you  have  the  cost  of  the  silo.  These 
conditions  vary,  of  course,  with  every  section  and  farm. 

As  this  silo  stands  about  half  above  ground,  the  ensilage  is  in 
danger  of  freezing  in  winter.  This  I  shall  obviate  by  stacking 
bundles  of  corn  fodder  about  the  building  on  the  three  exposed 
sides. 

FODDERS   FOR   ENSILAGE. 

The  crop  relied  upon  for  filling  the  silo  was  fodder  corn. 

The  first  plot  of  fodder  corn  was  about  two  and  a  half  acres  in 
extent.  The  soil  was  a  low  gIslj  alluvial,  not  sufficiently  elevated 
above  Fourth  Lake  to  yield  the  largest  crops.  The  ground  had 
been  in  corn  for  several  seasons  past,  and  was  fertilized  in  the 
spring  with  barnyard  manure,  at  the  rate  of  twelve  loads  per 
acre.  The  plot  would  have  brought  from  thirty-five  to  forty 
bushels  of  shelled  corn  per  acre  this  season,  I  should  judge,  had 
it  been  planted  to  that  crop. 


62 


The  ground  was  prepared  as  for  corn,  furrowed  thirty  inches 
apart,  and  corn  dropped  in  the  rows  at  the  rate  of  seventy- five 
grains  per  rod,  and  carefully  covered  by  hand.  The  seed  was  a 
variety  of  yellow  dent  grown  u[)on  the  farm  for  several  past.  The 
stalks  of  the  variety  are  somewhat  smaller  than  those  from  states 
south  of  Wisconsin. 

The  planting  was  done  May  27th.  This  plot  was  very  promis- 
ing at  first  and  was  pronounced  the  best  on  the  place  by  visitors  at 
the  farm  the  last  of  June.  It  was  cultivated  three  times  and  was 
entirely  free  from  weeds  at  cutting  time.  In  August  some  of  the 
corn  plants  turned  an  unhealthy  yellow  color,  and  the  corn  when 
tasseled  was  not  over  six  and  a  half  or  seven  feet  high.  ISo  cause 
can  be  given  for  this  condition,  except  that  the  plants  were  too 
much  crowded.  No  ears  formed  upon  the  stalks,  except  very 
small  ones  in  a  few  cases.  At  cutting  time  the  small  stalks  were 
as  sweet  as  Amber  cane  stalks  and  filled  with  juice.  Owing  to 
the  drought  then  prevailing  some  of  the  lower  leaves  were  dead. 
The  second  plot  of  ensilage  corn  was  grown  upon  land  which  had 
yielded  over  eighty  bushels  of  shelled  corn  per  acre  the  year  pre- 
vious. It  was  fertilized  with  rotted  barnyard  manure  at  the  rate 
of  thirty  small  two-horse  wagon  loads  to  the  acre.  .  The  ground 
was  in  perfect  condition  at  planting  time.  Rows  were  marked 
two  feet  apart,  and  in  these  corn  was  dropped,  three  grains  to  the 
hill,  ihe  hills  being  two  feet  apart.  It  was  cultivated  three  times, 
and  the  few  weeds  that  were  not  thus  destroyed  were  removed 
with  the  hoe. 

About  three  acres  in  third  plot  were  planted  with  AVhite  Austra- 
lian flint  corn,  a  variety  grown  upon  the  farm  for  several  years 
past.  The  growth  of  the  corn  on  this  plot  was  the  most  perfect  I 
ever  saw  in  all  respects.  It  stood  perfectly  even  in  thickness  and 
height  over  the  whole  plot.  The  suckers  were  numerous  and  the 
leaves  green  and  healthy  from  ground  to  tassel.  The  main  stalks 
stood  between  eight  and  nine  feet  high.  Although  seemingly  as 
thick  as  it  could  be  and  yet  keep  its  deep  green  color,  quite  good 
sized  ears  of  corn  formed,  and  these  while  in  the  milk  were  cut  up 
with  the  stalks  and  went  into  the  silo.  The  third  plot  was  simi- 
lar in  all  respects  to  the  second,  except  that  it  was  planted  with  a 


63 

southern  variety  of  corn  called  the  "Evans,"  obtained  from  the 
Missouri  State  University  through  the  kindness  of  Prof.  S.  M.Tracy. 
The  stalks  on  this  plot  stood  between  eleven  and  twelve  feet  high  ; 
were  leafy  from  ground  to  tassel  ;  were  coarse,  and  the  few  ears 
that  started  were  borne  from  six  to  eight  feet  from  the  ground. 
This  piece  was  planted  in  the  same  manner  as  the  flint  corn  just 
mentioned. 

YIELD    OF    ENSILAGE    PER   ACRE. 

Such  marvelous  stories  have  been  told  of  the  yield  of  fodder 
corn  for  ensilage  that  cautious]  farmers  have  looked  upon  the 
whole  question  of  ensilage  as  one  possessing  entirely  too  much 
fiction  for  practical  purposes.  Fields  of  fodder  corn  have  been 
estimated  to  yield  twenty,  forty,  sixty  and  even  seventy  tons  per 
acre,  as  we  read  in  the  papers.  To  help  settle  the  question  of 
yield,  therefore,  the  fodder  from  each  plot  was  weighed.  Every 
load  of  fodder  corn  before  being  driven  to  the  cutter  was  carefully 
weighed,  and  the  results  as  given  are  the  totals  of  these  weights. 
On  the  first  and  second  plots  all  the  fodder  corn  was  not  converted 
into  ensilage.  The  yield  given  is,  therefore,  for  part  of  the  field 
only. 

From  the  first  plot,  or  that  planted  with  yellow  dent  corn  in  drills, 
the  yield  from  2.22  acres  was  53,762  pounds.  This  would  give 
24,212  pounds  per  acre,  or  about  twelve  tons. 

From  the  second  plot,  planted  with  flint  corn,  2.6  acres  of  fod- 
der corn  were  removed,  weighing  86,570  pounds,  or  83,296  pounds 
per  acre.  This  gives  about  16^-  tons  per  acre.  In  the  third  plot 
there  was  only  .15  of  an  acre,  which  yielded  6,420  pounds  of  fod- 
der corn,  or  42,800  pounds,  about  21  tons  per  acre.  A  single 
stalk  from  this  plot  weighed  five  pounds,  and  was  twelve  feet  in 
length.  I  do  not  doubt  but  that  larger  crops  of  fodder  corn  can 
be  raised  than  the  above,  but  I  maintain  that  the  average  of  the 
three  will  be  up  to  the  average  crop  on  most  farms. 

FILLING   THE    SILO. 

After  being  weighed  the  loads  of  fodder  were  driven  into  the 
barn  and  the  fresh  green  fodder  was  run  through  the  Cycle  ensi- 
lage cutter,  which  was  placed  on  the  barn  floor  so  that  the  fodder 
passed  from  the  cutter  through  a  spout  into  the  silo.     It  has  been 


64 


stated  bj  writers  on  ensilage  that  two  horses  in  a  tread  power  will 
cut  four  tons  of  fodder  per  hour,  into  three-fourths  inch  length. 
I  think  this  statement  misleading,  though  of  course  diHerent  ma- 
chines will  give  different  results.  Our  farm  teams  have  worked 
for  many  years  past  in  a  tread  power,  sawing  about  two  hundred 
cords  of  wood  each  fall,  with  a  buzz  saw.  We  found  this  power 
insufficient  to  run  the  cutter  at  a  good  speed.  We  were,  in  fact, 
obliged  to  stop  work,  close  up  the  silo  and  procure  a  sweep  power, 
such  as  is  used  for  running  threshing  machines,  to  enable  us  to 
prosecute  the  work  with  any  rapidity.  Four  horses,  with  such  a 
power,  will  do  the  work  in  proper  manner.  When  doing  the  best 
work,  with  knives  sharp  and  everything  in  order,  we  cut  120 
pounds  of  three-fourths  inch  ensilage  per  minute,  from  actual  tests. 

We  are  using  the  same  sweep  power  this  winter  for  sawing 
wood  that  was  used  for  the  ensilage,  and  I  judge  from  the  way 
the  teams  draw,  that  it  requires  as  much  power  to  saw  one  cord 
of  dry,  four-foot  maple  wood  into  three  lengths  as  it  does  to  cut 
three  tons  of  fodder  corn  into  three-fourths  inch  ensilage.  By 
using  the  threshing  machine  horse  power,  the  farmer  is  in  con- 
dition to  crowd  the  work,  which  if  it  drags  is  most  annoying  and 
expensive.  It  requires  about  as  many  hands  as  for  threshing 
grain  and  is  as  hard  work  in  every  way. 

The  ensilage,  as  fast  as  it  passed  from  the  cutter  into  the  silo, 
was  spread  and  tramped  down,  but  no  material  of  any  kind,  as 
salt  or  lime,  was  used  to  preserve  it.  While  filling  the  silo  we 
had  many  visitors,  as  notices  were  placed  in  the  city  papers  and 
several  hundred  postal  cards  were  sent  inviting  prominent  farmers 
from  different  parts  of  the  state  to  witness  our  work.  The  com- 
ments were  as  varied  almost  as  the  visitors.  As  the  weather  was 
very  warm  the  ensilage  heated  rapidly,  and  when  the  visitor  would 
run  his  hand  down  into  the  mas?  of  damp-cut  fodder  and  find  it 
so  hot  as  to  be  uncomfortable,  there  would  sometimes  come  a 
shake  of  the  head  and  prediction  of  failure  of  some  sort,  "It 
will  burn  the  barn  up ;"  "  May  keep  below  but  will  not  on  top  ;" 
*'  Think  it  will  be  all  right  above  where  it  can  get  some  air,  but 
below  it  will  make  a  nice  manure  heap." 

After  putting  in  the  fodder  from  the  three  plots  enumerated,  to-  ' 


65 


gether  with  2,470  pounds  of  sweet  corn  and  1.000  pounds  of 
Honduras  sugar  cane,  and  tranaping  all  down  firmly,  we  found 
that  the  silo  was  filled  to  within  one  foot  of  the  top.  That  is, 
150,222  pounds  of  the  cut  fodder  occupied  a  space  of  ■IjSSG  cubic 
feet,  or  33  pounds  per  cubic  foot.  Of  course  the  space  occupied 
varies  greatly  with  the  depth  of  the  fodder,  the  fineness  to  which 
it  is  cut  and  the  thoroughness  with  which  it  is  tramped. 

CLOVER   FOR    ENSILAGE. 

As  soon  as  the  cutter  stopped,  a  team  was  hitched  to  the  mower 
and  we  cut  all  the  second  growth  clover  we  could  get.  As  fast  as 
a  load  was  cut  it  was  drawn  to  the  silo  and  put  in  without  having 
been  run  through  the  cutter.  In  this  way  five  tons  were  put  in. 
One  of  the  loads  of  green  clover  was  drawn  in  during  a  rain 
storm,  and  one  load  stood  on  the  wagon  out  of  doors  in  the  rain 
over  night,  and  water  was  dropping  from  it  when  pitched  into  the 
silo  the  next  morning. 

COVERING   THE   SILO. 

After  putting  in  the  green  clover  it  was  carefully  spread  and 
trampled  down  in  order  that  it  might  settle  evenly.  When  this 
had  been  done  the  clover  extended  about  half  way  up  the  plank 
wall ;  that  is,  it  was  about  two  and  a  half  feet  thick.  Directly 
upon  the  clover  were  placed  two-inch  plank  ten  inches  wide,  ex- 
tending across  the  silo  from  wall  to  wall.  The  plank  were  cut 
about  an  inch  shorter  than  the  silo  was  wide,  so  that  in  settling 
there  should  be  no  danger  of  binding. 

Having  laid  the  plank  over  the  clover  like  a  floor,  we  proceeded 
at  once  to  put  on  stone  which  had  been  previously  collected  from 
the  fields  about  the  farm  and  brought  to  the  barn  and  piled  up 
after  having  been  weighed.  Loads  of  these  were  drawn  directly 
into  the  barn,  and  the  boulders  were  passed  into  the  silo  through 
the  same  opening  that  the  ensilage  had  been  passed  in  at.  Four 
men  with  one  team  placed  eighteen  tons  of  stone  in  half  a  day. 
This  gave  a  weight  of  112  pounds  to  the  square  foot.  It  is  proba- 
ble that  a  less  weight  would  have  done,  but  the  clover  was  show- 
ing great  heat  and  was  so  long  and  matted  that  it  could  not  be 
easily  compressed  like  short  cut  corn  stalks.     Knowing' that  if  the 


66 


nir  could  be  forced  out  tbe  heating  must  cease,  we  endeavored  to 
make  tbe  check  effective  as  soon  as  pDssible. 

The  use  of  pressure  does  not  seem  to  bs  understood  by  some. 
It  is  best  explained  when  we  reflect  that  the  heating  of  any  ma- 
terial, as  of  green  fodder,  can  only  go  on  where  air  is  supplied. 
Cut  off  the  supply  of  air  and  the  heating  must  cease,  just  as  cer- 
tainly as  a  fire  in  a  furnace  will  die  out  if  the  supply  of  air  is  cut 
off.  Again,  to  mmy  the  stone  weights  used  are  a  great  bugbear, 
and  they  would  offer  a  set  of  jackscrews  as  something  more  to 
the  purpose.  To  all  such  I  would  say  that  the  stone  need  give 
no  trouble,  for  it  is  the  smallest  part  of  the  work  to  place  them. 
"When  not  obtainable  use  cordwood  or  sacks  of  grain. 

After  closing  up  the  silo  as  described,  there  were  scarcely  any 
signs  ol  the  change  going  on  in  its  contents.  Occasionally  there 
was  a  slightly  acid  odor  discernable,  but  this  was  not  at  all 
marked.  The  contents  settled  until  the  top  of  the  clover  layer 
was  four  feet  below  the  top  of  the  stone  wall.  The  clover  layer 
was  about  a  foot  thick.  We  see,  then,  that  the  cut  corn  fodder 
which,  when  fresh,  filled  the  silo  fourteen   feet,  sunk  to  ten  feet. 

COST  OF   FILLING   THE    SILO. 

The  cost  of  filling  the  silo  was  as  follows : 

J8  days' work,  at  $L50 $j7  03 

8  days'  work,  at    1.75 14  00 

15  days'  work,  at    1.35 18  75 

15  days'  teams,  at  $3  00 45  00 

Total $132  75 

The  time  oc^-upied  in  the  work  was  about  six  days.  As  eighty 
tons  of  clover  and  fodder  went  into  the  silo,  the  cost  per  ton  for 
putt!.~:g  it  in  is  over  one  dollar  and  sixty  cents.  This  is  fully 
twice  what  it  should  have  be^n,  owing  to  the  most  aggravating 
blunders.  In  the  first  place  the  Cycle  ensilage  cutter  from  the 
New  York  Plow  Company  failed  to  work  almost  as  soon  as 
it  was  started,  and  caused  a  loss  of  over  half  a  day,  while  a 
mechanic  was  employed  to  fix  it.  Again,  relying  upon  the  state- 
ment that  two  horses  in  a  tread  power  were  sufficient  to  work  it, 
we  made  use  of  a  power  employed  in  sawing  wood  for  the  univer- 


67 


sitj,  and,  after  nearly  kiHin'^  t^-ie  te\m,  abandoned  it,  and  se.ured 
a  threshing  machine  sweep  power  on  which  four  horses  were  used. 

In  making  these  changes  so  much  time  was  required  that  we 
were  obliged  to  place  the  plank  over  ensilage  already  cut,  and 
weight  them  down  with  stone,  as  though  we  had  finished.  Upon 
resuming  work  again,  the  stone  and  plank  had  to  be  removed,  of 
course.  Beside  the?e  annoyances,  we  found  that  the  knives  of 
the  cutter  were  of  such  poor  qaality  that  they  required  grinding 
every  three  or  four  hours. 

If  the  experiences  of  the  farm  are  of  any  avail  in  helping  oth- 
ers to  be  cautious  and  to  make  due  allowance  for  newspaper  ac- 
counts and  manufacturers'  statements,  our  labors  will  not  have 
been  in  vain.  It  must  b3  remembered  that  to  handle  three  or 
four  tons  of  long  green  fodder  every  hour,  from  field  to  wagon 
and  from  wagon  to  cutter,  and  thence  into  the  silo,  requires  a- 
good  force  of  hands,  and  all  arrangements  perfect,  if  economy  is 
to  be  considered. 

OPENING   THE    SILO. 

Tbe  silo  was  opened  November  29l;h,  by  throwing  out  the  stone 
resting  on  four  of  the  plank  at  the  end  farthest  fro.m  the  barn  and 
removing  them.  The  clover  under  the  plank  was  partly  decayed 
for  about  half  an  inch  down,  and  below  this  it  was  mouldy  for 
two  or  three  inches.  Close  to  the  walls  all  the  clover  was  more  or 
less  mouldy.  As  before  stated  the  clover  layer  was  about  a  foot 
thick  resting  on  the  corn.  The  whole  of  it  looked  so  inferior  that 
I  had  it  thrown  out  of  the  door  at  the  end  of  the  silo  upon  the 
ground  below.  Here  it  remained  for  several  days,  receiving  no 
thought  except  that  it  was  so  much  lost  clover,  and  that  as  soon 
as  the  teamster  had  a  spare  hour  it  should  go  to  the  manure  heap. 

By  using  a  hay  knife  one  could  cut  down  through  the  ensilage, 
making  a  straight  wall  on  the  uncovered  side.  The  fodder  corn 
was  in  fine  order  from  the  top,  though  dryer  than  I  had  supposed 
it  would  be.  As  we  dug  deeper  it  became  more  and  more  moist, 
but  not  so  wet  a-3  to  drip  water.  This,  as  all  ensilage,  is  of  a 
brown  color  and  has  the  characteristic  odor  and  taste. 

Upon  offering  the  ensilage  to  the  farm  cows,  three  out  of  the 
twelve  refused  to  eat  it.     Those  that  ate  seemed  puzzled  over  it, 


68 


and  showed  plainly  bj  their  cautious  mincing  manner  that  they 
could  not  quite  understand  what  it  was.  Those  that  refused  it 
entirely  at  first  soon  fell  to  tasting  it,  and  after  four  or  five  feeds 
they  all  ate  it  as  naturally  as  hay. 

Four  or  five  days  after  the  clover  had  been  thrown  out  of  the 
silo,  I  noticed  that  the  cows  when  .passing  that  way  stopped  and 
fed  upon  it.  Scarcely  believing  then  that  they  would  eat  much  of 
it,  we  tried  it  in  their  mangers,  and  found  that  they  ate  it  greedily  ; 
they  even  ate  much  of  that  which  was  musty,  so  that  but  a  few 
forkfuls  remained. 

The  ensilage  is  taken  from  the  silo  by  means  of  a  large  box 
provided  with  an  iron  bail  and  a  bottom  made  of  two  doors,  which 
open  from  the  midJle  outwards  and  letting'  the  ensilage  drop. 
Eunning  along  under  the  peak  of  the  roof  over  the  silo  is  a  track 
such  as  is  used  for  the  horse  hay  fork  carrier.  Upon  this  are  the 
same  carrier  and  attachments  that  are  used  with  the  hay  fork  in 
summer.  When  the  box  is  filled,  a  horse  is  hitched  to  the  rope 
running  outside  the  silo,  the  load  is  raised  to  the  ridge  track, 
along  which  the  carrier  takes  it  to  the  outside  of  the  building, 
where  the  doors  of  the  box  are  opened,  and  the  ensilage  is  dropped 
into  a  shute,  from  whence  it  drops  into  a  car  and  is  taken  to  the 
stock  barn  near  by.  I  do  not  claim  anything  peculiarly  econom- 
ical in  this  arrangement,  but  urge  upon  those  who  think  of  build- 
ing a  silo  to  plan  most  carefully  to  avoid  the  necessity  of  handling 
the  ensilage  often,  or  carrying  it  far.  It  is  bulky  food,  and 
whether  or  no  it  is  profitable  must  depend  largely  upon  how 
economically  it  can  be  handled. 

It  was  planned  to  feed  ensilage  along  with  fodder  corn  cut  from 
the  same  lot  and  thus  find  the  comparative  values  of  the  two,  but 
the  rainy  fall  so  spoiled  the  fodder  corn  that  this  project  has  been 
abandoned  and  the  trial  is  now  between  meadow  hay  and  ensilage. 
Two  milch  cows  are  being  fed  ensilage,  and  two  others  hay,  both 
lots  having  all  they  wish  to  eat.  Beside  this  they  have  equal 
quantities  of  bran  and  oil  meal.  At  this  writing,  the  experiment 
has  been  in  progress  but  a  few  days,  but  now  seems  to  indicate 
that  more  milk  will  be  obtained  from  the  ensilage  than  from  the 
hay. 


A   SIMPLE    SILO. 

A  little  way  from  the  farm  barns  near  a  railroad  cut,  a  hole  was 
dug  in  the  ground,  having  each  of  its  measurements  eight  feet. 
The  spot  was  chosen  near  the  railroad  cut  to  secure  good  drain- 
age, as  most  of  the  land  about  the  farm  buildings  is  low.  The 
soil  was  compact  and  gravelly.  Into  this  hole,  green  clover  di- 
rectly from  the  field  was  thrown,  and  tramped  down  as  closely  as 
possible ;  the  hole  was  filled,  and  clover  added  until  it  formed  a 
mound  rising  above  the  level  of  the  ground.  Upon  this,  straw 
was  [placed  and  a  few  short  boards,  and  then  part  of  the  earth 
taken  from  the  pit  was  thrown  back  upon  it,  making  a  mound  as 
is  often  done  in  burying  roots  for  winter.  In  a  day  or  two,  the 
weight  of  the  earth  had  pressed  everything  below  the  level  of  the 
ground.  Earth  was  again  heaped  up,  and  in  a  few  days  the  pro- 
cess was  repeated.  At  length,  when  about  two-thirds  of  the  earth 
had  been  thrown  back,  the  settling  ceased  and  the  earth  over  the 
clover  was  on  a  level  with  the  surface  of  the  ground.  Of  course 
this  brought  a  great  pressure  to  bear  upon  the  clover,  but  the  fall 
•was  so  extremely  wet  that  since  I  had  placed  no  protection  of  any 
sort  over  the  spot,  I  supposed  the  clover  had  spoiled.  A  few 
days  since,  the  hole  was  opened  and  the  clover  came  out  in  per- 
fect condition.  Cows  eat  it  greedily.  It  is  very  moist  and  has 
not  lost  all  of  its  natural  color. 

It  should  be  understood  that  there  was  no  protection  of  any 
kind  to  the  bottom  or  sides  of  this  miniature  silo,  and  only  a  little 
straw  and  a  few  boards  on  top  of  the  clover,  besides  the  earth. 
Burying  a  green  hay  crop  in  this  way  is  of  course  not  a  practica- 
ble method,  but  for  those  who  wish  to  test  ensilage  in  a  small  way, 
it  is  not  a  bad  experiment.  It  shows,  also,  how  those  living 
where  the  subsoil  is  very  compact,  could  make  a  silo  with  either 
very  light  walls  or  none  at  all. 


70 


EXPENDITURES  FOR  AMBER  CANE  AND  ENSILAGE 
EXPERIMENTS. 
The  following  is  an  itemized  statement  of  all  expenses  incurred 
and  moneys  expended  to  date;  as  shown  by  the  books  of  the  sec- 
retary of  state,  with  whom  the  vouchers  are  deposited. 

W.  A.  HENRY. 


April 

26 

May 

4 

June 

17 

June 

17 

June 

17 

June 

17 

June 

17 

June 

17 

June 

17 

June 

17 

June 

17 

June 

17 

June 

17 

.June 

17 

June 

17 

June 

17 

June 

17 

June 

17 

June 

17 

June 

17 

June 

17 

June 

23 

June 

23 

June 

23 

June 

23 

June 

23 

June 

23 

June 

23 

June 

23 

June 

23 

June 

23 

June 

23 

June 

23 

June 

33 

June 

23 

June 

23 

June 

23 

June 
June 

23 
?3 

To  Democrat  Printing  Co. — 

3,000  twelve-page  pamphlets 

To  Cuarles  H  Besley  iV  Co.— 

75  It.  3-6  brass  rod,  at  .08 

To  Crane  Bros  Manufacturing  Co.— 

1  2  iu.  union 

2  3.|in.  globe  valves,  at  $1.30 

1  J2-i'5-  union 

2  J^-in.  globe  valves,  at  .95 

1  ;li-in.  uniou 

4  li^-in.  globe  valves, at  $3.G0. . . , 

1  li/g-in- tee 

2  jl-in.  globe  valves,  at  .95 

1  )|-in.  cross , 

3  13^-in.  ells,  at  .33 

4  li|-in.  tees,  at  .40 


40  per  cent 

40  ;*a-in.  by  114-in.  machine  bolts, 
60  per  cent 


501^  lbs.  copper  for  coil,  at  .36 , 

53  hours'  lubor  making  coil,  at  .50 

73^2  lbs.  1)2  beavy  brass  tubing,  at  .45 


box  and  cartage 

draft 

To  W.  J.  Rohrbeck  — 

2  nests  lipp.  beakers,    6-in.  nest,   1 — 16, 
$1.10..    

3  nests  do.,  4-in  nests,  1—8,  at  .  62i^ 

2  cest  beakers,  12  in.,  nest  No.  CO  to  10  .  . 

3  doz.  Bohem.  flasks,  flat-bottom,  8  oz.  at  $1.50 


1  Ribl.  funnel,  3  oz 

2  plain  funnels,  10-in.,  at  35. 
2  plain  funnels,  5-6  in.  at  .25. 


each  W.  tubes  5  14  and  10-in 


6  Liebig's  calc.  ciilor.  tubes 

3    Burettes    W.    Geiselcr's    stopcock,   50-in 

MOcc   

3  Burettes  W.   Geiseler's  stopcock.   100-in 

1-5  c'c' 

3  Mohr's  burettes  50-in.  1-5  c'c' 

3  Mohr's  burrettes,  100-inch  1-5  c'c' 

V,  Bink's  burettes,  1  each,  .35  and  .50 

3  graduat.  pipettes,  1  each,  10  and  30  c'c'. . . 
3  volum.  pipettes,  1  each,  10  and  20  c  c  .... 


$0  72 
2  60 

19 
1  90 

23 
14  40 

40 
1  90 

10 

96 
1  60 

$25  00 
10  GO 

$1  44 
86 

$18  18 
26  50 


$3  30 
1  35 
5  00 
4  50 
1  13 

3  00 
1  75 

70 
50 

4  05 
90 

5  00 

5  50 

3  00 

4  00 
3  00 
1  25 

50 


71 


To  W.  J.  Rohrbeck  —  continued. 

12  conic  precip.  jars 

2  hydrometer  jars,  10  in 

2  calc.  chloiide  jars,  12xti^  in.,  $1.35... 

4  Peligols  nitrogen  tubes 

2  Will,  and  Varren'r.  tubes 

24  combustion  tubes,  8  in.,  at  .30 

6  brass  corkborers 

2  graduat.  cylinders,  500  c'c' 

2  graduat.  cylinders,  300  c'c' 

2  graduat.  cylinders,  100  c'c' 

4  Marcliand's  lactobatyrometers 

2  per  cent,  saccbarometers 

2  Baume's  saccbarometers 

1  lactometer 

3  chemic.  tbermom.,  C.  scale  on  paper  . . . 

3  chemic.  tbermom.,  C.  scale  on  milk-glass 

G  plain  Bun's  gaslamps  

1  upright  Fletcher's  gas  blowpipe 

1  gas  combus.  furnace,  15  burners 

2  porcelain  casseroles,  4  oz.,  at  .40 

2  porcelain  casseroles,  12  oz  ,  at  .80 

1  porcelain  casserole,  20  rz 

4  platin.  capsules,  l^j,  diam.,  at  $5 , 

1  crucible.  1,^8x1  5-10  inches 

1  combus.  boat 

3  fresen.  desiccators,  at  $1.75 

2  cases  and  packing  (ij  c^^^'S^s). ..   

1  Bun's  gaslamp,  with  a"  tubes 

draft 


To  Crane  Bros.  Manuf'g  Co. — 

4  pieces  fa  blk.  tin  pipe,  7  lbs,,  at 
box 


Less  overpay  on  last  account. 


ToW.  A.  Henry  — 

stationery  and  postage 

To  W.J.  Rohrbeck  — 

auaiyt.  balance,    200    grms.,   cap.    w.,    y.^ 

knife  edges  and  bearings  of  agate,  etc..  . . 
1  set  gramme  weights,  200  grms.,  from  100 

grms.   down 

4  globul.  stopper  funnels,  w.  Geiseler's  stop 

cock,  at  $1.25 

24  large  velvet  corks,  5-20  to  35  in 

case,  packing,  etc  ,  ^^  charges 


less  express  freight  charges  to  Madison. . , 


express 


To  J.  P.  Lightbody  — 

labor  in  month  of  May  on  cane  machinery 

5  days,  7  hours,  at  $2.50  per  day 

labor  in  June,  15  days,  3  hours,  at  $2.50  pei 

day 


$3  00 
75 

2  50 
1  25 

75 
7  20 

1  50 

3  00 

2  50 
2  00 

2  50 
1  60 
1  20 

50 
1  50 

3  00 
3  00 
3  50 

22  00 

80 

1  60 

1  25 

20  CO 


$2  52 
25 


$3  77 
25 


100  00 
12  50 

5  00 

75 
1  50 

$119  75 
3  50 

HIO  25 

6  05 


14  25 

38  75 


$154  13 


25  00 


133 


53  00 


72 


July  25 
July  25 
Julv    25 


July   25 


July    28 
July    28 


Jdy  28 

July  28 

July  1 

July  1 

July  1 

July  1 

July  ^ 
July 


Julv  1 

Jul>  1 

July  1 

Aug.  1 

Aug.  1 


To  W.  J.  Rohrbeck  — 

1  iron  hand  press,  1   qrt.  cap. 
less  10  per  cent 


puorimzets. 


off  amount  overpaid  on  last  bill  paid. 


$4  50 
45 

$4  05 
50 

$4  55 
50 


To  T.  P.  Joyce  —  i 

Labor    removing    boiler  out  of   building; 

painting  and  loading,  also  work  on  box, 

and  loading  the  same,  50  hours  at  50  cents 

per  hour .$25  00 

material  for  box 2  50 

cartage '  2  00 

To  C.  W.  Heyl  —  I 

2  square  pans  of  galvanized  iron I  ijilD  60 

2  copper  cylinders I  14  95 

couplings,  faucets,  and  work  on  cylinders..  17  75 

galvanized  iron,  can  for  cooler,  laucet |  3  85 

lining  vacuum  pan,  47  pounds  copper j  15  05 

work  on  vacuum  pan,  worm  and  coupling,  .i  28  00 

copper  kettle 5  50 

4  milk  pans,  funnel,  pint  measure |  90 


To  W.  A.  Henry  — 

Freight  on  steam  boiler  from  Janesville, 
and  cartage. 


To  Kent  &  Lawrence — 

1  steam  boiler 

1  centrifugal  machine. 


To  Warnes  &  Swenson  — 

1,266  ft.  common  boards,  at  $15. 

712  ft.  stock  boards,  at  -$20 

636  ft.  2  by  4  studding,  at  $15. . 

168  It.  4  by  4  sills,  at  $15 

2.j2ft.  2  by  6  joist,  at  $15 , 

5.000  shingles,  at  $3.50 , 

80  lbs.  nails,  at  .04 , 

20  lbs.  nails,  at  .05 , 

240  ft.  ogee  battens,  at  .$30 

16  ft.  ridge-boards,  at  $20 

80  ft.  flooring,  at  $30 

4  g.  sash,  at  .60 

hardware 

10)^  days'  labor,  at  $2.50 


To  J.  P.  Lightbody  — 

labor  on  cane  machinery  for  month  of  July, 

20  days,  2}^  hours,  at  $2.50  per  day 

To  Madison  Manufacturing  Company  — 

one-half  cost  of  flask  for  vacuum  pan 

15  lbs.  Ifa  round  iron,  at  .05 

393  lbs.  vacuum  pan  casting,  at  .06 

53  lbs.  castings,  at  .05 


$2  50 
25 


$18  99 
14  24 
9  54 

2  52 

3  78 
17  50 

3  20 

1  00 
7  20 

32 

2  40 
2  40 
1  47 

26  25 


$3  50 

75 

23  58 

2  65 


73 


Aug.  3 

Aug.  3 

Aug.  3 

Aug.  3 

5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
5 
,     5 

Aug.  6 
Aug.  6 
Aug.     6 

Aug.  12 
Aus.  13 
Aug.  23 
Aug.  23 
Aug.  23 
Aug.  23 
Aug.  23 
Aug.   23 

Aug.  26 
Aug.  26 
Aug.  27 
Aug.  27 
Aug.  27 
Aug.  27 
Aug.  27 
Aug.  27 
Aug.  27 
Aug.  27 
Aug.  27 
Aug.  27 
Aug.  27 
Aug.  27 
Aug.  27 
Aug.  27 
Aug.  27 
Aug.  27 

Aug.  30 
Aug.  30 
Aug.  30 
Aug.  30 

Aug.  31 
Aug.  31 
Aug.  31 


Aug.  31 


Aug.  31 
Aug.  31 
Aug.  31 
Aug.   31 


To  Wm.  Gary  — 

33  lbs.  brass,  at  .14... 
20  lbs.  brass,  at  .12i^. 
28  lbs.  copper,  at  .15., 


To  Hollisfer's  Pharmacy  — 

7  lbs.  ether,  at  .80...' 

2  bottle? 

express 

ij  lb.  cause  potash 

1  lb.  R.  salts 

1  bot.  ether 


To  D.  Goldenburger  - 
1  second-hand  tub 
1  new  made  tub.. . 


To  Joseph  Lister  — 

100  lbs.  bone  charcoal 

To  Prof.  W.  A.  Henry  — 

freiaht  on  ensilage  cutter 
To  8.  Williams  — 

26  bus.  lime 

26  bus.  lime 

18  bus.  lime 


To  Alex.  H.  Main,  Ins.  Agt.— 

insurance  on  Amber  cane  machinery 
To  Schmidtz  t%  Kienar  — 

21  cords  of  stone,  at  $3.50 

To  Warnes  &  Swenson  — 

700  ft.  com.  boards,  at  $15.00 

500  ft.  stock  boards,  at  .1i30.00 

1,138  ft.  2  by  10  plank,  at  $15,00 

144  ft.  2  by  6  studding,  at  $15,00 

644  ft.  2  bv  4  studding,  at  $15.00 

33  ft.  ridgeboards,  at  $20.00 

5}J  M  shingles,  at  $3,50 

55  lbs  nails,  at  .04 

20  lbs.  nails,  at  .05 

46  ft.  scantling,  at  $15  00 

Q%  days'  work,  at  $3  50 

43  ft.  flooring,  at  $30,00 

6  days' work,  at  $3.50 


To  Esser  &  Oakey  — 

25  days'  mason's  labor,  at  $3.00. 

12  days' laborer,  at  $1.75 

320  white  brick 


To  Madison  City  Gas  Light  &  Coke  Co.- 

gas  consumed,  200  cu.  ft.,  at  $4.50 

rent  of  meter   


Less  discount  when  paid  before  10th  of  mo, 


12  ft.  li^-in.  pipe,  at  .13. 

1  \%-\a.  elbow 

1  l%-\n.  brass  stop  cock 
1  wooden  stop  box 


$4  62 
2  50 
4  20 


$5 


|i2  00 
5  00 


$7  28 
7  28 
5  04 


$10  50 
10  (JO 

17  07 
2  16 
9  66 

64 

18  38 
2  20 
1  CO 

69 

23  75 

1  26 

15  00 


$75  00 

21  00 

2  90 


$0  90 
25 

$1  15 
20 

95 

$1  56 

32 

2  60 

1  00 


74 


Aug. 

31 

Aug. 

31 

Aug. 

31 

Sept. 

2 

Sept. 

2 

Sept. 

3 

Sept. 

3 

Sept. 

3 

Sept. 

3 

Sept. 

3 

Sept. 

3 

Sept. 

3 

Sept. 

3 

Sept. 

3 

Sept. 

3 

Sept. 

3 

Sept. 

3 

Sept. 

3 

Sept. 

3 

Sept. 

3 

Sept. 

3 

To  Madison  City  Gas  L'glit  &  Coke  Co.- 

18  hours'  labor,  at  .15 

18  hours'  labor,  at  .25 


To  Democrat  Printing  Co.— 

400  postal  cards,  and  printing 

To  Thomas  Regan  — 

2  ;'3  check  valves,  at  .55 

1  oil  cup,  $1,25,  and  1  -'(j  tee,  at  .15 

2  ^s  steam  cocks 

1  piece  gas  pipe 

6  ft.  ^4  cal.  pipe,  at  .IIJ2 

5  %  return  bends,  at  .  llJ 

I  1  by  .^4  elbow,  at  .09 

II  ;5^  return  bends,  at  .19 

telegraph  charges,  -45;  express,  .50 

16|y  ft.  ,^4  pipe,  at  .08 

1  '^^  bushing,  .7;  1  1.;  bushing,  .6 

2  It  elbows,  . 09 ;  2  pj  tees,  at  .  12 

15,',-  ft.  9i  pip",  at  .08 

1  3^  union,  .20;  1  l-inch  tee,  .19 

1  34  tee,  at  .  12 

100  ft.  M  pipe,  at  .08 

3  11^  tee,  at  .19;  7  P4  tee,  at  .12 

4  ■'^4"union,  at  .20 

2  'U  elbows,  at  .09 

16-..,  ft.  :^4  pipe,  at  .08;  2  %  elbows,  at  .09. 
24;-:.5  ft.  11.^  pipe,  at  .27;  3  ly,  tees,  at  .33. 
1  13.^  elbow,  .30;  2  s.^  elbowS,  at  .09  ...  . 
1  11^  bushing,  .10;  1  13^  bushing,  at  .10. 
labor  cutting 

7  ,'4  globe  valves ;  1  ^^^  glass  tube 

9  hours  for  two  putting  in  water  pipe 

17  ft.  }4  pipe,  at  .07 

3  ^i  unions,  at  .20;  2  14  elbows,  at  .06  ... 
1  l-inch  plug,  at  .06;  1  I3  nipple,  at  .7... 
952.J  ft.  l-inch  pipe,  at  .lli., 


1  1  by 


.09;  1  34:  tee,  at  .12. 


2  ^X  globe  valves,  at  $1  00.    

16)^  ft.  l-inch  pipe,  at  .III3 

1  Vt  elbow,  .06;  1  ?4  check  valve. 


.55 


4  %  elbow,  at 


1  3{  tee,  at  .12. 


2  reducing  couplings,  1  by  ^4,  at  .15 

4  ^i  unions,  at  .20;  6  ft.  1.,  pipe,  at  .07. 

43^4  ft.  3^'  pipe,  at  .08 

43.1  elbows,  .09;  1  ^  tee,  .12;  1  J^  elbow,  .06 
25  ft.  1  in.  rubber  pipe,  at  .27 

3  ft.  3^  pipe,  53^;  4  3^'  elbows,  at  .09 

1  3^  reducer,  at  .10;  1  3g  coupling, at  .05.. 

1  34'  globe  valve 

1  l-inch  globe  valve 

150  ft.  gas  pipe,  at  .12 

4  pillar  cocks,  at  .30 

5  nipples,  at  .05;  1  3^  p]ug,  at  .05 

4  burners,  at  .15;  1  pr.  meter  connections,  $3. 

1  l-inch  stop  cock 

1   ^2  reducing  coupling,  .20;  1  ^_^  elbow,  .20 

l}o  days  for  laborer,  at  |1  50. . .  .    

23I  days  for  man  and  helper,  at  $4  50. . . 

1  3j;  bibb  cock  for  water  pipe 

1  34  tee,  .12;  2  straps.  .05 

1  3^  coupling,  .05;  1  3^^  nipple,  .05..,.., 


75 


I  To  Thomas  Regan  —  continued. 

I        6  1^  elbows,  at  .00;  1  J^  globe"^ valve,  .85. 

1        1  pillar  cock 

I        60  ft.  1-inch  pipe.  at.  n}4 

3  1-inch  elbows,  at  .09.T 

50  ft.  }4  pipe,  at  .07 

1  y^tee 

2  days  for  man  and  helper,  at  $4.50 

labor  for  makintr  coil 

8  ft.  3^  pipe,  at  .08 

1  1-iuch  refJucing  coupling 

1  1-inch  bushing 

Cr.  by  15]8y  rubber  pipe,  at  .27 


To  Prof.  W.  A.  Henry  — 

Pay  roll  of  men  employed  in  putting  in 
silage: 
John  Camp,  5y.i  days,  at  $1  50  . .  . . , 
H.  Halberslebeu,  6  days,  at  $1.75. . 
John  B.  Smith.  Oij  davs,  at  $1.50.  . 
Frederick  Smith,  41.,'  days,  at  $1.50 
Heory  Caesar,  3I4  days,  at  $1.50. . . . 

John  Kelly,  2-^:^  days',  at  $1.50 

M.  Nolan,  1  day,  at  $1.75 

F.  Duftee,  1  day,  at  $1.75 

H.  Fichten,  teaming,  2  .lays,  at  $3.00 

M.  Foley,  1  Oay,  at  $3.00 

Louis  liosHn,  5  days,  at  $1.50 

Ambrose  Komyce,  5  days,  at  $150 


$1  21 

30 

6  90 

27 

3  50 

09 

9  00 

10  00 

04 

10 

08 

$151  81 

4  23 

To  J.  P.  Lightbody  — 

Labor  in  August,  11  days,  9  hours,  at  $3.50. . 
To  W  A.  Henry  — 

To  cash  paid  Jo''n  Wasler  for  work  putting 

in  ensilage,  2  days,  at  $1.50 

To  Magnus  Svvenson  — 

To  services  in  Amber  cane  experiments  from 
June  1  to  September  1,  1881,  3  months,  at 

$100  per  month 

To  Conkling  &  Co.— 

10  barrels  Milwaukee  cement,  at  $2.00 

1  barrel  Milwaukee  cement,  at  $2.00 

2  barrels  Milwaukee  cement,  at  $2.00 


To  D.  W.  Britt.m  — 

20  5-gallou  ^yrup  kegs,  at  .30 

To  New  York  Plow  Co  — 

1  ensilage  cutter 

To  Frank  ct  R  unsay  — 

12  fts.  3x i->  iron,  at  .OS'.,' 

2  fts.  ■{\~  nuts  at  .121-^. '. ". 

1  bull's-eye  lantern 

1  padlock 

3I4  strap  binges,  at  .10 

60  llashiugs,  at  .03 

3  lbs.  0-peuuy  wrought  nails,  at  .08. 
14  lbs.  nails,  at  .04 

1  well-wheel  hook 

1  eye  bolt 


$8  25 

10  50 

9  75 

0  25 
4  87 
4  12 

1  75 
1  75 

6  00 
3  00 

7  50 
7  50 


$20  00 
2  00 
4  00 


$0  42 
25 

1  00 
65 
33 

1  20 
24 
56 
13 
15 


$147  58 


71  74 
29  75 

3  GO 
300  00 

'"2006 
6  00 

75  00 


76 


Sept. 

19 

Sept 

19 

Sept 

19 

Sept 

19 

Sept 

19 

Sept 

19 

Sept 

19 

Sei)t 

19 

Sept 

19 

Sept 

19 

Sept 

19 

Sept. 

22 

Sept. 

22 

Oct. 

1 

Oct. 

1 

Oct. 

10 

Oct. 

10 

Oct. 

10 

Oct. 

12 

Oct. 

12 

Oct. 

15 

Oct. 

15 

Oct. 

18 

Oct. 

18 

Oct. 

21 

Oct. 

21 

Oct. 

21 

Oct. 

21 

Oct. 

21 

Oct. 

21 

Oct. 

21 

Oct. 

21 

Oct. 

20 

Oct. 

20 

Oct. 

20 

Oct. 

20 

Oct. 

20 

Oct. 

20 

Oct. 

20 

Oct. 

20 

Oct. 

20 

Oct. 

20 

Oct. 

20 

Oct. 

20 

Oct. 

20 

Oct. 

20 

Oct. 

20 

Oct. 

20 

Oct. 

20 

Oct. 

20 

Oct. 

22 

Oct. 

22 

Oct. 

22 

Oct. 

22 

Oct. 

22 

To  Frank  &  Ramsay  —  continued. 

6  !t)8.  20  penn)'  nails,  at  .04 

1  piece  hoop  iron , . . 

1  wrench  

1  hammer 

2  taper  files,  double  ends,  at  .20. 

1  file 

1   "(5  brass  faucet 

1  pair  strap  hinges 

1  hook  and  staple , . 

emery  paper 


To  M.  Swenson  — 

cash  paid  for  barrels. . . . 
To  W.J.  Rohrbeck  — 

glass  apparatus 

To  Hollister's  Pharmacy  — 

copper  and  lead 

barium  aud  alum 


To  Josepli  Lister  — 

2  packages  bone  charcoal,  net  300  lbs.,   at 

•f 3.85  per  100  lbs 

ToF.  W.  Holt  — 

99  hours'  labor  at  mill  at  .15  per  hour. . . 
To  A.  B.  Burr  — 

192  hours'  work  at  mill,  at  .15  per  hour  . 
To  Madison  Manufacturing  Co. — 

8  lbs.  wrought  iron,  at  .05 

55  lbs.  wrought  iron,  at  .05 

24  ft.  2-in.  rubber  belting,  at  .\2}4 

2  hours'  forging,  at  .75 T 

2  sorgho  skimmers,  at  .35 

5}4  lbs.  casting,  at  .05 

G  If  in.  bolts,  at .  10 


To  W.  A.  Henry  — 

cash  paid  for  6  jointed  rods,  at  .S 
G.  Milman,  work  on  ensilage. .. 
M.  Folley,  work  on  ensilage.  . . . 
telegraphing  for  ensilage  cutter. 

To  Magnus  Swenson  — 

cash  paid  for  4  yards  muslin,  at 
2  yards  cotton  fiannei,  at  .123>2. 

1  pair  scissors 

10  yards  cotton  cloth,  at  .04 

1  yard  linen 

express  on  charcoal 

expenses  to  Janesville 

lime 

gallon  measure 

lime 

1  pail,  1  qt 

1  pail,  4  qt 


To  W.  A.  Henry  — 

cash  paid  on  freight  and  express  bills  for 
packages  used  in  Amber  cane  experiments 
To  J.  N.  Wilcox  — 

231  hours'  labor  at  cane  mill,  at  .15 


-fO  24 
05 

1  25 
85 
40 
GO 

1  50 
20 
05 
15 


i!6  75 
4  50 


$0  40 

2  75 

3  00 
1  50 

70 
28 
60 


n  50 

4  90 
6  00 
1  00 


$0  36 
25 
50 
40 
65 
50 
3  70 
55 
50 
30 
15 
40 


77 


Oct.  23 

Oct.  23 

Oct.  23 

Oct.  23 

Oct.  23 

Oct.  23 

Oct.  23 

Oct.  23 


Oct. 

31 

Oct. 

31 

Oct. 

31 

Oct. 

31 

Oct. 

31 

Oct. 

31 

Oct. 

31 

Oct. 

31 

Oct. 

31 

Oct. 

31 

Oct. 

31 

Oct. 

31 

Oct. 

31 

Nov. 

4 

Nov. 

4 

Nov. 

4 

Nov 

4 

Nov 

4 

Nov 

4 

Nov 

7 

Nov 

7 

Nov 

7 

Oct. 

23 

Oct. 

33 

Nov 

10 

Nov.  16 


To  J.  F.  Bruce  &  Bro.— 

2  barrels 

1  tub 

1  pail 

1  keg 

1  tub 

3  pails 

1  barrel 

To  S.  L.  Sheldon  — 

1  30-iucli  pulley 

b ixes  

shaft 

wood  work  and  bolt  for  jack  ... 

1  day,  2  men ■ 

30  ft.  rubber  belting,  less  i^' 

3  3d  h.  tumbling  rods,  ji  price. 
3  couplings,  }4  pi'ice 

2  new  T.  R.  blocks 

1  pulley  for  cutter 

drayage  

I/O  day,  3  men  setting  up 

To  H.  G.  Kronke  — 

I  stove 

II  joints  pipe 

3  elbows 

zinc 

coal  hod 


Nov.  25 
Nov.  25 


Nov. 
Nov. 

Dec. 
Dec. 

gee. 
ec. 


28 


To  W.  A..  Henry  — 

cash  paid  fdr  cane  feed 

cash  paid  for  telegrams  and  express  charges, 

To  Magnus  Swenson  — 

cash  paid  for  1  torrent   steam   pump,  steam 

gauge  and  1  old  glass  gauge 

To  Democrat  Printing  Co. — 

3,000  circulars,  300  government  3cent 
'stamped  envelopes,  300  XXX  No.  Q}4  en- 
velopes  

To  W.  J.  Kohrbeck  — 

1  platin.  capsule,  3  inch  diam.  wt.  39  grras. 

at  .43  per  grm 

4  vol.  pipette,  2  each  5  and  lOcc  . .  $1  00 
3  lbs.  C.  P.  Rochelle  salt 3  75 


if3  00 

85 

25 

75 

85 

50 

35 

?15  00 

3  00 

2  50 

1  50 

5  00 

11  80 

6  00 

3  00 

1  50 

3  75 

1  50 

3  CO 

$26  00 

5  50 

50 

1  00 

85 

!f3  00 

1  80 

less  10  per  cent 
packing 


To  Joseph  Lister  — 

3  packasres  bone  charcoal,  net,  541   lbs.,  at 

$3  85  per  100  lbs 

To  C.  I.  King  — 

use   of  tools    in  constructing    sugar    cane 

apparatus 

To  Democrat  Printing  Co. — 

1  M  i|  sheet  circulars  

To  Bunker  &  Vroman  — 


340  ft.  plank,  at  |15  00. 


$16 


4  28 

22 


$5  55 


57  55 


33  85 


3  80 


18  00 


18  00 


30  00 
5  00 
5  10 


78 


30 


Dec.  30 

Dec.  30 

Dec.  30 

Dec.  30 


To  J.  N.  Wilccx—  ^ 

labor  in  October,  27(5  hours,  at  .15.  , 
labor  ill  November,  "J6  hours,  at  .15. 
labor  in  Deceraber,  4  hours,  at  .15. . 


To  Hollister's  Pharmacy  — 

1  lb  carb.  lime 

1  gross  qaini'  e  bottles 

1  gross  4  oz.  U.  ovals 

1  gross  corks  for  quia,  bottles 
1  gross  corks 


To  Magnus  Svvenson  — 

salary  as  chemist  fr  om  Sept.  1,1881,  to  Jan 

1,1883 .• 

To  John  Kempf — 

391  hours  labor,  at  .15  per  hour 

To  Democrat  Printing  Co.  — 

200  labels  for  sugar  boxes 

To  Magnus  Svvenson  — 

express  charges 

expenses  to  Janesville  

stationery 


To  C.  W.  Heyl  — 

smoke-stack,  Si}4  lbs 

2  covered  pails  and  piece  of  iron. 

galv.  iron  tank,  42  lbs 

clipper  and  scoop 

2  copper  boxes,  shelf  and  stand.. . 
76  tin  boxes 


To  W.  A.  Henry  — 

postage  on  circulars 

To  W.  A.  Henry  — 

cash  paid  for  200  cu.  ft.  gas,  at  $4.50  per 
1,000 

rent  of  meter 


discount. 


expressage 
expressage 
2  barrels  . . 
freight 


Total  expense  to  date. 


$41  40 

14  40 

60 


$0  25 

8  75 

4  50 

80 

20 


$0  80 

2  40 

1  13 

$10  25 

75 

8  40 

40 

10  50 

7  60 

$0  90 
25 

$1  15 
20 

$0  95 

40 

25 

2  00 


$50  40 


$14  50 


400  00 
53  65 


00 


4  33 


37  90 
14  14 


I  5  4a 

$3,080  07 


C/ajf /of</  ^^1 

GAYL  AMOUNT® 
I  PAMPHLET  BINDER 
Syrocuse,  N.Y. 
Stockton,  Calif. 


